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Air Aruba

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Air Aruba
IATA ICAO Call sign
FQ ARU ARUBA
Founded1986
Ceased operationsOctober 23, 2000
HubsQueen Beatrix International Airport
AllianceAserca Airlines
Fleet size26
Destinations27
HeadquartersOranjestad, Aruba
Key people
  • Tawa Irausquin (CEO)
  • Peter Look Hong (CEO)
  • Henri Coffie (CEO)
Websiteinterknowledge.com/air-aruba/

Air Aruba was the main air carrier from the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba. It was founded in 1986 and declared bankruptcy in 2000.[citation needed] It was headquartered in the Brown Invest Building in Oranjestad, Aruba.[1]

History

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An Air Aruba NAMC YS-11 at Fort Worth Meacham International Airport in 1988

Air Aruba began in September 1986 as a ground handling agent for most airlines in Aruba. Two years after being founded, on August 18 to be precise, Air Aruba (with the help of KLM and later Air Holland) carried out its first commercial flight with a YS-11 turbo-prop type aircraft operating between the ABC islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, as well as Caracas, Venezuela. Over the years, Air Aruba expanded its schedule to various destinations in the Caribbean (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and St. Maarten), North America (Newark, Miami) and South America (São Paulo, Maracaibo, Las Piedras). Air Aruba also started flying across the Atlantic to Amsterdam and Cologne. This flight was initially operated in conjunction with Air Holland but was later assumed completely by Air Aruba. Subsequently, the fleet was also upgraded, shifting more from turbo-prop aircraft to jet aircraft, including the Boeing 727, 737, 757, and 767. On the ground, Air Aruba also kept developing, forming a new ground handling company as a subsidiary it jointly owned with Ogden Aviation Services. Air Aruba also expanded its reservations office in North America to meet the demand.[citation needed]

Carrying on the tradition of the Aruban people, Air Aruba strove to bring the friendliness of Aruba to the airline industry; however, financial problems made the Government of Aruba seek a new owner for the airline. On October 27, 1998, Air Aruba secured a takeover by the Venezuelan airline Aserca Airlines, which became the majority owner of Air Aruba. In December 1998, Air Aruba leased two brand new MD-90s, expanding the total fleet to 5 aircraft. At the same time, Air Aruba also inaugurated a route to Philadelphia and re-opened a route to Baltimore, making the total number of destinations to 10. In the competitive airline industry, it is important to have stable partnerships with other respected international airlines. Air Aruba had done so by developing fruitful partnerships with, among others, Continental Airlines and KLM. In March 1999, Air Aruba had established a far going agreement with Aserca Airlines and Air ALM to provide a better service in the Caribbean and South America for both its customers and its employees. The rising cost of operations and management caused Air Aruba to file bankruptcy in 2000.[citation needed] Air Aruba suspended its operations as of October 23, 2000.[2]

Destinations

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Caribbean

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 Aruba (Hub)
 Dominican Republic
 Netherlands Antilles

Europe

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 Germany
 Netherlands

North America (United States)

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 Florida
 New Jersey
 Pennsylvania
 Texas
 Maryland

South America

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 Brazil
 Colombia
 Venezuela

Fleet history

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An Air Aruba Boeing 757-200 leased from Air Holland at Portugal in 1990
An Air Aruba McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 at Miami International Airport in 1993

Air Aruba's NAMC YS-11s were the first acquired aircraft to be introduced into their fleet. After some time, Air Aruba initially replaced them with an Embraer EMB-120. Later on, they acquired a Boeing 757-200 (to fly to Miami). Furthermore, the fleet size expanded by introducing aircraft from Boeing with the latter aircraft type operating flights to Europe as well as some U.S. routes. In the last operating years of Air Aruba, only the McDonnell Douglas DC-9, MD-80 and MD-90 were operated by Air Aruba until the airline closed its doors.

Air Aruba's fleet consisted of the following aircraft:[citation needed]

Air Aruba fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Boeing 727-100 1 1991 1991 Leased from Hapag-Lloyd Flug
Boeing 737-300 2 1990 1992 Leased from Trans European Airways
Boeing 757-200 2 1990 1992
Boeing 767-200 1 1991 1992 Leased from Air New Zealand
Boeing 767-200ER 1 1992 1992 Leased from Britannia Airways
Boeing 767-300ER 1 1992 1993 Leased from Aer Lingus
Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia 1 1990 1993
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 3 1993 2000
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 3 1992 1998
McDonnell Douglas MD-88 2 1992 2000 Transferred to Southeast Airlines
McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 3 1998 2000
NAMC YS-11A/213 6 1988 1993

See also

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References

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  1. ^ World Airline Directory. Flight International. March 17–23, 1999. "46.
  2. ^ "Overview." Air Aruba. March 2, 2001. Retrieved on October 6, 2009.
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