Avianca Honduras
Isleña de Inversiones S.A. de C.V. branded Avianca Honduras is a regional airline based in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. It offered mostly scheduled and chartered passenger flights out of its hub at Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport. It was formerly one of the airlines part of Grupo TACA. It is one of the seven nationally branded airlines in the Avianca Group of Latin American airlines.
History
The airline was founded as Isleña Airlines in 1981 by Arturo Alvarado Wood in the city of La Ceiba. It began operations on May 31, 1981, with a Cessna 206 between La Ceiba and Roatán. Their central office was formerly located in La Ceiba and its hub was at Golosón International Airport.In 1998, Grupo TACA acquired a 20% stake in the company, and began operating under the TACA Regional banner. On May 28, 2013, Isleña was unified with the rest of TACA's subsidiaries into the Avianca Holdings, being renamed Avianca Honduras.
By October 2018, Avianca Honduras had suspended its routes until further notice. In March 2020, the airline retired is remaining aircraft and transferred its operations to Avianca.
On May 10, 2020, Avianca filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States after failing to pay bondholders, becoming one of the major airlines to file for bankruptcy due to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
Destinations
Prior to March 2020, Avianca Honduras operated to the following destinations:Further destinations were served by chartered flights.
Fleet
Throughout its existence as Isleña Airlines, the airline operated the following aircraft:- 7 ATR 42-300
- 6 ATR 42-320
- 2 ATR 72-600
- 1 Beechcraft 90
- 1 Beechcraft 99
- 1 Boeing 737-200
- 1 Cessna 206
- 3 de Havilland Canada DHC-6-200 Twin Otter
- 5 Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante
- 3 Fokker F27 Friendship
- 1 Fairchild Hiller FH-227
- 1 Grumman Gulfstream I
- 3 Short 360
- 4 Let L-410 Turbolet
Accidents and incidents
- On April 4, 1990, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6-200 Twin Otter landed in the water short off the runway at Útila Airport, following a scheduled passenger flight from La Ceiba with 18 passengers on board. The two pilots claimed to have been blinded by the sun, thus misjudging the remaining distance to the runway. All occupants of the aircraft could be saved.
- On March 3, 1997, a Let L-410 Turbolet did not gain sufficient height upon take-off from Golosón International Airport for a scheduled flight to Puerto Lempira with 19 passengers on board. Following the retraction of the landing gear, the two pilots had applied the wrong engine power setup and were forced to bring the aircraft down again in a belly landing, during which it was damaged beyond repair.