TACA headquarters in San Salvador.

TACA is the trade name "brand" comprising a group of five independently IATA-coded and -owned Central American airlines, whose operations are combined to function as one and a number of other independently owned and IATA-coded regional airlines which code-share and feed the TACA brand system. TACA, originally an acronym of Transportes Aéreos Centroamericanos (Central American Air Transport), now stands for Transportes Aéreos del Continente Americano (Air Transport of the American Continent), reflecting its expansion to North, Central, South America and the Caribbean.

Services[link]

Two Airbus aircraft from Grupo TACA at the Juan Santamaria International Airport. TACA operates at SJO one of its three major hubs.

SANSA aircraft at Juan Santamaría International Airport.

The airlines that make up TACA are:

• TACA International (El Salvador)
• Aviateca (Guatemala)
• Regional - Formerly Inter, it operates under Aviateca's code.
• Lacsa (LR) (Costa Rica)
• Isleña Airlines (Honduras)
• Nicaragüense de Aviación (Nicaragua)
• TACA Perú (Peru)
• TACA's regional airlines system which includes the following airlines: Aeroperlas, Regional, Islena Airlines, La Costeña, and SANSA

TACA has three flight hubs or "Centros de Conexiones":^[2]

• TACA hub at Comalapa International Airport in San Salvador, El Salvador
• TACA Perú hub at Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima, Peru
• Lacsa hub at Juan Santamaría International Airport in San José, Costa Rica

TACA's headquarters are in San Salvador, El Salvador.^[3]

History[link]

TACA was founded in 1931 by New Zealander Lowell Yerex. TACA was once the "world's largest cargo carrier."^{[citation needed]}. The idea of its founder was to establish one airline in each Latin-American country, such as Aerovias Brasil in Brazil and other TACAs in Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia.^{[citation needed]}Out of all the TACA franchise airlines created, only TACA International of El Salvador survived, and has now ventured in acquisitions and has helped launch airlines such as the Mexican Volaris and has 49% shares in TACA Peru.

Until 1980 TACA was owned by a United States company and had its corporate headquarters in New Orleans, Louisiana (due to the civil war raging in El Salvador) in 1980 the Kriete Family of El Salvador who owned a minority stock completed buying all the shares. Today the headquarters returned to San Salvador, El Salvador to a new building which was inaugurated in 2008.

Between 1989 and 1995, TACA bought the majority shares of the flag airlines of Guatemala (AVIATECA), Costa Rica (Lacsa), and Nicaragua (NICA), consolidating operations under a new brand name, Grupo TACA. In 2008, Roberto Kriete and the board of directors decided to revert back to the original name; TACA International Airlines since the consolidation of the acquired airlines was completed.

AviancaTaca and modernization[link]

In October 2009 it was announced that TACA would merge its assets in a strategic alliance with Colombian airline Avianca, in which case each will maintain their own trademark and operations. Avianca and TACA currently operate a combined fleet of 129 aircraft, serving over 100 destinations in the Americas and Europe.^[4] In December 2009 approval for the merger was given by the Colombian Civil Aeronautical Agency.^[5]

The merger of Colombia's Avianca and Salvadoran-based TACA is the latest sign that consolidation in the Latin American airline sector is picking up.

In November 2009, the airline's Chief Executive Fabio Villegas announced that the airline is looking to replace its Fokker 50 and Fokker 100 aircraft with newer aircraft of 100 seats or less. The 10 Fokker 50s and 15 Fokker 100s are currently operated on flights shorter than one-and-a-half hours. Aircraft manufactured by Brazil's Embraer, Canada's Bombardier Aerospace and the Airbus A318 are being considered for the replacement.^[6]

In December 2010, The airline made the decision to retire the Fokker 100 aircraft in 2011 and replace them with 10 Airbus A318 leased from GECAS from 2011-2018. The aircraft will be delivered during January to February 2011.

Star Alliance (from 2012)
On November 10, 2010 Star Alliance announced Avianca (and its subsidiary, TACA) to become full member in mid-2012. Due to Avianca's entry into Star Alliance it will stop its code share agreement with Delta Air Lines in March 2011 and begin a new code share agreement with United Airlines and Continental Airlines. TACA has been code sharing with United Airlines for a while now.

Destinations[link]

Main Article: TACA destinations, Lacsa destinations, TACA Perú destinations

Airbus from TACA Perú flying for Grupo TACA at Juan Santamaria International Airport, Costa Rica.

TACA's new Embraer 190 with the new paint scheme.

TACA has a total of 50 destinations around the world and continues to grow.

TACA's Evolution[link]

On September 24, 2008, TACA Chairman and CEO Roberto Kriete introduced a new brand of identity by unveiling a new Airbus aircraft painted in TACA's new colour scheme. The event also included a fashion show featuring the new uniforms for TACA staff designed by Colombian designer Isabel Henao.^{[citation needed]}

Fleet[link]

As of June 2011, the TACA fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 5.5 years:^[7][8][9]

Historic fleet[link]

Taca has operated the following types:

Reciprocal Frequent Flyer Agreements[link]

LifeMiles is the Taca and Avianca frequent flyer program; it replaced the old "Distancia" program.^[16]

In addition to earning miles on TACA and TACA Regional flights, Taca has partnerships with the following airlines:

• Aeroméxico^[17]
• AeroSur
• Avianca
• Iberia
• Lufthansa [1]
• Sky Airline^[18]
• TAME
• United Airlines
• US Airways

Skytrax[link]

TACA Airlines won the Skytrax award in the following categories:^[19]

2009

• Best Airline: Central America
• Best Regional Airline: Central America
• Best Cabin Staff: Central America & the Caribbean

2010

• Best Airline: Central America
• Best Cabin Staff: Central America & the Caribbean

2011

• Best Airline: Central America & the Caribbean
• Best Cabin Staff: Central America & the Caribbean

Accidents and incidents[link]

• On March 5, 1959, Vickers Viscount YS-09C crashed shortly after take-off from Managua Airport, Nicaragua when both port engines failed. Fifteen of the 19 people on board were killed.^[20]

• On May 24, 1988, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, Boeing 737-300: TACA Flight 110: A double engine flameout due to water ingestion, a result of an in-flight encounter with an area of very heavy rain and hail. The design of the engines and FAA water ingestion certification standards did not take into account the higher water volume of strong or severe thunderstorms while operating at lower power. NTSB Report

• On April 6, 1993, Guatemala City, Guatemala, Boeing 767-200, TACA Flight 510, overran the runway after not being able to brake on flooded landing field.

• On May 30, 2008, Toncontín International Airport, Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Airbus A320 EI-TAF: TACA Flight 390, from San Salvador overran a rain-soaked runway in approach to Tegucigalpa Airport. There were five fatalities, three of which were occupants.^[21]

References[link]

External links[link]

	El Salvador portal
	New Orleans portal
	Companies portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Grupo TACA

• Grupo TACA
• TACA Regional
• Aeroman
• Tus Sentidos
• LifeMiles

v t e AviancaTaca Holding S.A. Subsidiaries Brazil Avianca Brazil OceanAir Táxi Aéreo Senior Táxi Aéreo Target TurbServ VarigLog Central America Aeroman Lacsa TACA TACA Regional Aeroperlas Aviateca Isleña La Costeña Nicaragüense de Aviación Sansa Colombia Avianca Avianca Services Helicol PAS Tampa Cargo Ecuador Avianca Ecuador Peru TACA Peru History ACES Alianza Summa Capital Airlines SACO SAM SCADTA Wayraperú Key people Germán Efromovich Parent company AviancaTaca Holding S.A. Synergy Group + Kingsland Holding Ltd. List of airline holding companies