History
SAN was founded on January 21, 1964, providing commercial services within Ecuador with two Douglas C-47As. the first routes directly connected Cuenca with Guayaquil in passenger transport operations in 1966, these operations were daily.
In 1970, the company signed an alliance with Ecuatoriana de Aviación. That same year, SAN acquired two Vickers Viscount from All Nippon Airways. Its arrival in Ecuador and entry into service marked a decided modernization of the flight equipment, which allowed the company to continue operating its usual routes and inaugurate direct flights from Cuenca to Quito and for the routes to Guayaquil to be operated with its own teams.
In 1975, three Sud Aviation Caravelle were acquired from TAP Air Portugal, two of them are put into service on the frequencies assigned between the cities of Quito and Guayaquil and one was stored in Cuenca for to serve as a source of spare parts. SAN's intention was to operate with the Caravelles to and from Cuenca, but this was not authorized by the aeronautical authorities of that time.
In 1979, SAN purchased two Sud Caravelles from Luxair, one was used in service and the other for spare parts. In this period, the Cuenca investors who had a majority decided to sell their shares to a Guayaquil businessman. By 1981, two Boeing 727-100s were incorporated, which one maintained its fleet and the other one was sold to TAME.
In the early 1990s, SAN was absorbed by Ecuadorian airline SAETA, increasing its frequencies and fleet for national and international flights. But the next years were of absolute decline until in 1999, when the company definitively ceased operations.
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