Aerolíneas Argentinas

Aerolineas Argentinas ' big and colorful history began in the year 1929, when an airline company named Aeroposta took off. The Argentinian government, recognizing Argentina's vast geographic size and the need for faster communications between people living in Argentina's countryside and the ones living in larger cities, established this airline company, which carried both people and mail on a regular basis. The first two destinations served were Mendoza and Posadas and the French Jean Mermoz and Antoine de Saint-Exupery, later legends in Argentina, were among the first pilots used.

By 1930, 2 more airlines, LASO and LANE, started their flights and the number of cities served by airlines in Argentina triplified. In 1945, these two airlines joined, becoming LADE (Lineas Aereas Del Estado, or State Owned Air Lines in English). This couldn't have come at a better time, since World War 2 was entering its final stages and commercial aviation was about to enter a stage of explosive growth.

In 1946 the first Douglas DC-3's arrived in Argentina, and Argentina's first intercontinental airline, FAMA, was created. This represented a big leap in Argentinian commercial aviation , because Argentina had never had an international airline company before.

In 1949, all these airlines decided to join forces under one name: Aerolineas Argentinas.

Two of the men who were important to the growth of the airline were Dirk Wessel Van Layden and Alfonso Aliaga Garcia. They were visionaries, and by this time, Argentina didn't even have any acceptable airport facilities. Van Layden had been a pilot with the French airline Aeropostale (not to be confused with Aeroposta), and he was eager to teach and to help get the best pilot hands available in the country. Obviously, being a pilot in Argentina at the time was a daring adventure, but Van Layden and Aliaga Garcia correctly envisioned a future for the company.

The DC-3 proved to be an invaluable asset for Aerolineas Argentinas, just as it did for a host of other airlines worldwide. It enabled them to fly to many domestic destinations that had been unreachable until then, and to keep flying FAMA's international routes. Soon afterwards, Douglas DC-4s joined the fleet and services were inaugutared to Santiago, Lima, Santa Cruz, and Sao Paulo.

The 50's had rolled along when the DC-6 arrived, allowing Aerolineas Argentinas to fly at night for the first time. Thanks to this plane, the name of Aerolineas Argentinas began to be seen at terminals in New York's Idlewild airport, as well as Havana, Lisbon, Senegal's Dakar and Rio De Janeiro. Aerolineas Argentinas wanted to be at the head of the class among South American airline companies.

At the end of that decade, the Comet IV jet had begun commercial jet services worldwide, and Aerolineas once again wanted to set the pace among South America's air companies in that regard, so airline President Juan Jose Guiraldes persuaded Argentina's President Arturo Frondizi to buy 6 units of the new plane, on the understanding that Aerolineas would pay for the planes later. And so on March 2, 1959, 'Tres Marias', which became the first jet airplane flown by Aerolineas, landed at Buenos Aires's Ezeiza International Airport. History was being made and roads being opened that day.

With these jets, Aerolineas Argentinas kept a steady growth during the 60's, opening flights to London, Paris, Rome and Madrid. This coincided with the golden era of travelling and many Argentinians started flying on Aerolineas Argentinas to these cities, lured by the history, beauty, and nightlife of those destinations, and in Paris' case, also it's closeness to Monte Carlo.

The 70's saw the arrival of the Boeing 747's, 737's and 727's , and a stronger marketing strategy. Aerolineas Argentinas was featured on many Jorge Porcel movies at that time, and the airline started licensing many toy companies to produce mass airplane models of them, a practice they maintain today. In 1980, Aerolineas Argentinas became the first airline to operate a trans-oceanic South Pacific flight, from Buenos Aires to Auckland, New Zealand, using Boeing 747s. The route remains in operation. They added the MD-88 to the fleet to compliment the larger Boeing equipment and improve domestic services.

Aerolineas remained strong through the 90's and added Sydney as a destination for a little while. They also added the latest in jet technology, the Airbus A340, which enabled Aerolineas Argentinas to start non-stop flights between Buenos Aires and Los Angeles.

Because of the economic crisis in Argentina in 2002, Aerolineas Argentinas was forced to close down all international services for a few days. However, just like all great champions and leaders, Aerolineas Argentinas came back stronger and safer than ever, re-initiating international services almost immediately and looking forward to a bright future as Argentina's national airline company.