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(LAB Airlines) is the national and international passenger
Airline of
Bolivia , based in
Cochabamba . It operates passenger and cargo services within Bolivia and to international destinations.
Lloyd Aereo Boliviano was established on
September 15 ,
1925 , when it was founded in
Cochabamba by
Guillermo Kyllman . The airline's name was ''Lloyd Aereo Boliviano S.A.''. The name was chosen after
Lloyd's Of London for its image of safety and security (though the two firms are not related). The airline's first airplane, a
Junkers F-13 , came as a present from the
German community in Bolivia. It started operations on
23 September 1925 .
Lloyd Aereo Boliviano first flew internationally in July
1930 , with planes used by
Brazilian airline
Syndicato Condor Ltda. , between
Corumbá , Brazil and
Rio De Janeiro . Lloyd Aereo Boliviano used their own plane on the route from
La Paz and Rio de Janeiro, and La Paz to Corumbá. With this, Lloyd Aereo Boliviano and Condor Ltda. had a commercial agreement. Lloyd Aereo Boliviano, which was
South America 's second commercial airline, after
Colombia 's
Avianca , soon increased their flights to the Brazilian destinations, and their fleet began to grow too. During
1932 , Lloyd Aereo Boliviano had to lend its planes and personnel to the Bolivian government, to help during the so called
Chaco War ''(Guerra Del Chaco)''.
Lloyd Aereo Boliviano had to be reorganized and was nationalized on
14 May 1941 by the government, and it began a period of growth by means of expansion, new airplanes and destinations. In
1950 , the airline was awarded with the ''Condor de los Andes'', given to Bolivian companies by the government.
In
1970 , Lloyd Aereo Boliviano joined the jet age, acquiring their first
Boeing 727 . With jets, Lloyd Aereo Boliviano was allowed to fly to more markets in
Central America , to the
United States and to
Spain .
But in
1994 , Lloyd Aereo Boliviano ran into economic trouble, and the government had to start looking for potential buyers. Under those desperate measures, they had to look for international interests to step in, and on
October 19 of
1995 ,
VASP , a Brazilian airline, stepped up, buying 50% of the company, and signing an administrative contract. Subsequently the fleet was painted to resemble that of VASP's, and it introduced a frequent flyer program. VASP sold its shares of Lloyd back to Bolivian investors in
2001 .
The airline is now owned by Ernesto Asbun Gazaui (50%), Chairman and Executive President, and the Bolivian government (48.27%) (at January
2005 ).
In 2004 due to a debt that
Ecuatoriana De Aviación owed LAB, Lloyd got 50% of Ecuatoriana and operates some of its routes under shared codes.
- Lloyd Aereo Boliviano was featured in a chapter of the Saul Lisazo and Victoria Rufo Telenovela '' Vivo Por Ella ''. Rufo's character flew from Mexico City to New York . LAB apparently lent an airplane to the soap opera's producers, since the airline does not fly that route, but the seats of the plane used to film the scene where Rufo flew had LAB's logo and name printed.
''see full article:'' .
The operational Lloyd Aereo Boliviano fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of April 2006):
