Boliviana de Aviación

Boliviana de Aviación (shortened in Spanish for Empresa Pública Nacional Estratégica Boliviana de Aviación "Bolivian National Strategic Aviation Public Company") and stylized as BoA, is the flag carrier airline of Bolivia and is wholly owned by the country's government. Founded in October 2007 and headquartered in Cochabamba, it operates most of its domestic network out of its primary hub at Jorge Wilstermann International Airport while its international services operate out Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. It is the largest airline in Bolivia and sixth largest in South America, in terms of fleet size and passengers carried.[3]

Boliviana de Aviación operates a fleet consisting of Airbus and Boeing aircraft and a regional fleet of Bombardier CRJ-200s. It currently flies to 21 destinations in 8 countries in the Americas together with a transatlantic extension to Madrid in Spain.

The airline was established as a state-owned enterprise as the successor airline of former flag carrier Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano, which ceased in 2007 after 85 years of operation.[4]

History

Background and early years

Boliviana de Aviación (BoA), was founded on 24 October 2007 by the Bolivian government under president Evo Morales, who signed Supreme Decree 29318 into law, establishing the new airline as a strategic state-owned enterprise with the purpose of sustaining the Bolivian air travel market, which had been left exposed during the downturn of Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano (LAB), the country's former flag carrier.[7][8]

Proposals from the Bolivian government to establish a new airline quickly became concrete in 2006 when LAB suspended much of its air routes due to financial difficulties and years of mismanagement. LAB had accumulated losses since 1995, at the time of its partial acquisition by Brazilian airline VASP. Its debts approached $180 million and in 2012, it formally ceased operations after 87 years of service. At the time of its demise, Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano was the second oldest airline in South America after Avianca.

On 29 March 2009, Boliviana de Aviación launched its first scheduled flight between the cities of La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz de la Sierra using one of the two Boeing 737-300 it acquired that same year. In 2012, BoA became the main airline in the country after the bankruptcy of AeroSur, Bolivia's second largest carrier.

Expansion

Three years after it started operations, Boliviana de Aviación extended its domestic network by adding services to the cities of Sucre and Tarija.[9] In 2012, following the demise Bolivia's second largest airline, AeroSur, the airline became the principal carrier in the country and consolidated its network of scheduled domestic services, reaching the country's main centers of population. In addition to its domestic network, the airline operates scheduled international services to the South American countries of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela. In May 2010, it inaugurated its first international flight from Cochabamba to Buenos Aires and in November 2010, it began services to São Paulo, its second international destination.[10][11] The airline currently offers daily non-stop service to Buenos Aires and to São Paulo.[12]

airline	Boliviana de Aviación
fleet size	17
destinations	19
iata	OB
icao	BOV
callsign	BOLIVIANA
founded	24 October 2007
commenced	30 March 2009
headquarters	Cochabamba, Bolivia
aoc	119-01-005‡R1R‡
hubs	Jorge Wilstermann International Airport
focus cities	El Alto International Airport Viru Viru International Airport
frequent flyer	Elévate
parent	Bolivian Government (100%)
key people	Mario Borda (CEO)
revenue	Bs. 102 million (2014)‡R2R‡
net income	Bs. 38.7 million (2014)‡R2R‡
assets	Bs. 629 million (2014)‡R2R‡
num employees	2,345 (2015)‡R2R‡
website	www.boa.bo

Boliviana de Aviación

History

Background and early years

Expansion

Business figures

Destinations

Codeshare and interline agreements

Codeshare

Interline

Codeshare

Interline

Fleet

Current fleet

Former fleet

Fleet development

See also

External links

References