Airline
Avianca Costa Rica S.A., formerly known as LACSA (Spanish: Lineas Aéreas Costarricenses S.A.), minority owned by the Synergy Group, is the national airline of Costa Rica and is based in San José. It operates international scheduled services to over 35 destinations in Central, North and South America.[1][2][3] The airline previously used the TACA/LACSA moniker when it was a subsidiary of Grupo TACA. Since May 2013, following Avianca's purchase of Grupo TACA, Avianca Costa Rica became one of seven nationally branded airlines (Avianca Ecuador, Avianca El Salvador, etc.) operated by Avianca Group of Latin American airlines.
History
LACSA was formed in October 17, 1945, with the help of Pan American World Airways, and started operations in June 1, 1946, using Douglas DC-3s for local services within Costa Rica,[4] operating as an affiliate of Pan Am.[5] The airline was designated as Costa Rica's Flag carrier in 1949[4] and was nationalized in 1958.[6]
LACSA operated the Douglas DC-6B four-engined piston airliner from 1960 until 1976 on their regular passenger, and eventually freight, scheduled flights to Miami International Airport. The airline introduced the first of their BAC One-Eleven twin-engined jet airliners onto their Caribbean passenger route network in April 1967.[7]
The airline also operated a subsidiary in the Cayman Islands, Cayman Brac Airways (CBA) Ltd.,[8] which it sold a 51% controlling interest in the late 1960s to the Cayman Islands government which in turn used the air carrier to form Cayman Airways. LACSA served Grand Cayman for many years as an intermediate stop on its services between San José, Costa Rica and Miami.[9]
Beginning 1998, TACA/LACSA was one of the member airlines comprising the TACA Airlines alliance along with Aviateca of Guatemala, Nica of Nicaragua, Isleña of Honduras, and five other regional airlines.[10][11] In 2008, a new fleet of Embraer 190 jets was introduced.[12]
Also in 2008 a new TACA logo was introduced,[13] followed by a new fleet of Embraer 190 airplanes registered in Costa Rica and operated under the LACSA code. In 2009, Aerovías del Continente Americano S.A. (Avianca) and TACA announced their merger plans to be completed in 2010. By 2013, the airlines began operating as a single commercial brand using the Avianca name.[14]
Destinations
LACSA international destinations in 1973
Classic LACSA livery of the 1990s, shown on an Airbus A320
According to the May 31, 1973 LACSA system timetable, the airline was serving the following international destinations:[15]
- Barranquilla, Colombia
- Caracas, Venezuela
- Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
- Maracaibo, Venezuela
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Miami, Florida
- Panama City, Panama
- San Andres Island, Colombia
- San José, Costa Rica - Hub and airline headquarters
- San Salvador, El Salvador
This same timetable states that all international flights were being operated with British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven twin jets at this time with the exception of the San José-San Andres Island route which was being flown with a Convair 440 propliner.
International routes in 1984
The airline was operating to such international destinations in 1984 as:
- Barranquilla, Colombia
- Cancun, Mexico
- Caracas, Venezuela
- Guatemala City, Guatemala
- Guayaquil, Ecuador
- Los Angeles, USA
- Maracaibo, Venezuela
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Miami, USA
- New Orleans, USA
- Panama City, Panama
- Quito, Ecuador
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- San Juan, Puerto Rico
- San Salvador, El Salvador
These cities were flown to using LACSA’s Boeing 727.[16]
Fleet
Current
As of February 2023, Avianca Costa Rica consists of the following aircraft:[17][18]
Former
LACSA operated the following aircraft:[19]
