Aérolíneas Peruanas

Aérolíneas Peruanas

IATA ICAO Callsign EP[1] PRU[2]
Founded	1956
Commenced operations	1957
Ceased operations	1971
Hubs	Lima Airport
Headquarters	Lima

Aérolíneas Peruanas S.A. (also known by the abbreviation APSA or the English translation Peruvian Airlines)^[3] was an airline from Peru, serving as flag carrier of the country from 1956 to 1971.^[1] Headquartered in Lima, it operated a network of scheduled passenger flights to major places in Latin America, as well as the United States, out of its hub at Lima Airport.^[4] In 1967, APSA had around 1,000 employees.^[5]

History

Aérolíneas Peruanas was founded by C. W. Shelton in September 1956,^[6] with 77 percent of the company's shares spread amongst private Peruvian investors.^[5] Flight operations were launched in mid-1957, on the Lima to Santiago and Miami routes.^[5] Originally not a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA was only joined in 1966), APSA could significantly undercut the usual airline fares for flights between South America and the USA.^[7] To strengthen its market position, APSA went into a partnership with Transportes Aéreos Nacionales (TAN, from Honduras) and Compañía Ecuatoriana de Aviación (CEA, from Ecuador).^[7][2]

The Douglas DC-6 being the aircraft most commonly used with the airline in the early 1960s,^[7][8] Aérolíneas Peruanas joined the jet age on 1 December 1963 with the introduction of the Convair 990 Coronado.^[9] During that years, the network had been greatly expanded,^[4] which culminated in the launch of transatlantic flights using the Douglas DC-8 by the end of the decade.^[10][6]

In the early 1970s, Aérolíneas Peruanas found itself in a worsening financial situation. Plans for a take-over by the Peruvian government and Spanish national airline Iberia failed, so that the company was forced to cease all flight operations on 2 May 1971.^[11]

Route network

APSA offered scheduled passenger flights to the following destinations:^{[2][8][12][3][4]}

Fleet

Over the years, APSA operated the following aircraft types:^[1]

Incidents

On 11 January 1969, an Aérolíneas Peruanas Convair 990 Coronado was hijacked en route a flight from Panama City to Miami and forced to divert to Cuba.^[18] At that time, such United States-Cuba hijackings had become common occurrences.

References