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. It was headquartered in the Brown Invest Building in Oranjestad, Aruba.

History

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 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, North America and South America. 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.
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. Air Aruba suspended its operations as of October 23, 2000.

Destinations

Caribbean

;
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. 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:
AircraftTotalIntroducedRetiredNotes
Boeing 727-100119911991Leased from Hapag-Lloyd Flug
Boeing 737-300219901992Leased from Trans European Airways
Boeing 757-200219901992
Boeing 767-200119911992Leased from Air New Zealand
Boeing 767-200ER119921992Leased from Britannia Airways
Boeing 767-300ER119921993Leased from Aer Lingus
Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia119901993
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30319932000
McDonnell Douglas MD-83319921998
McDonnell Douglas MD-88219922000Transferred to Southeast Airlines
McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30319982000
NAMC YS-11A/213619881993