Línea Aérea Amaszonas
Línea Aérea Amaszonas S.A., usually shortened to Amaszonas, is an airline based in Bolivia, headquartered in La Paz. It operates scheduled and chartered short-haul passenger flights throughout the northern and northeastern regions of the country as well as to neighboring Peru, Chile and Paraguay, with its network's hub being located at El Alto International Airport.
History
The company was founded on 1 October 1998, but flight services were only commenced in 2000. Initially, Amaszonas operated chartered flights using a small fleet of turboprop airliners of the types Cessna 208 Caravan and Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner. In 2012, following the demise of AeroSur, five Bombardier CRJ200 wereacquired from Avmax Aircraft Leasing Inc. in order to launch scheduled passenger services. The first one of these 50-seat jet aircraft was put in service in late August on the La Paz-Santa Cruz de la Sierra route.
In late 2014 Amaszonas announced it would lease 9 CRJ200 aircraft to expand its regional network and intended to fly to up to 40 destinations by 2017.
Purchase of BQB Líneas Aéreas
In 2015 the Bolivian airline purchased the Uruguayan BQB Líneas Aéreas 5 days after the company shut down its operations due to a crisis that began in 2014. From 4 May, the airline takes over the routes operated by BQB before the closure of operations, which are Buenos Aires and Silvio Pettirossi International Airport.Subsidiaries
- Amaszonas Uruguay
Destinations
| City | Country | Airport | Status |
| Buenos Aires | Argentina | Aeroparque Jorge Newbery | |
| Córdoba | Argentina | Ingeniero Ambrosio Taravella International Airport | |
| Salta | Argentina | Martín Miguel de Güemes International Airport | |
| Cochabamba | Bolivia | Jorge Wilstermann International Airport | |
| La Paz | Bolivia | El Alto International Airport | |
| Oruro | Bolivia | Juan Mendoza Airport | |
| Rurrenabaque | Bolivia | Rurrenabaque Airport | |
| Santa Cruz de la Sierra | Bolivia | Viru Viru International Airport | |
| Sucre | Bolivia | Alcantari Airport | |
| Sucre | Bolivia | Juana Azurduy de Padilla International Airport | |
| Tarija | Bolivia | Capitán Oriel Lea Plaza Airport | |
| Trinidad | Bolivia | Teniente Jorge Henrich Arauz Airport | |
| Uyuni | Bolivia | Joya Andina Airport | |
| Yacuiba | Bolivia | Yacuiba Airport | |
| Campo Grande | Brazil | Campo Grande International Airport | |
| Cuiaba | Brazil | Marechal Rondon International Airport | |
| Florianópolis | Brazil | Hercílio Luz International Airport | |
| Antofagasta | Chile | Cerro Moreno International Airport | |
| Arica | Chile | Chacalluta International Airport | |
| Copiapó | Chile | Desierto de Atacama Airport | |
| Iquique | Chile | Diego Aracena International Airport | |
| La Serena | Chile | La Florida Airport | |
| Asuncion | Paraguay | Silvio Pettirossi International Airport | |
| Ciudad del Este | Paraguay | Guaraní International Airport | |
| Arequipa | Peru | Rodríguez Ballón International Airport | |
| Cusco | Peru | Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport | |
| Montevideo | Uruguay | Carrasco International Airport | |
| Punta del Este | Uruguay | Capitán de Corbeta Carlos A. Curbelo International Airport |
Fleet
Current fleet
The Amaszonas fleet consists of the following aircraft :Former fleet
The airline previously operated:2 Fairchild Metroliner and a further 4 Bombardier CRJ200
Interline agreements
As of April 2014, Amaszonas has interline agreements with the following airlines:- Air Europa
- Hahn Air
- GOL Airlines
Incidents
- On 10 July 2001 at 16:47 local time, the two pilots of an Amaszonas Cessna 208 Caravan carrying eleven passengers had to execute an emergency landing on a hill near Viacha, six minutes into a flight from La Paz to Rurrenabaque, due to an engine problem. When hitting the ground, the aircraft turned over and was destroyed, but all persons on board survived.
- On 25 January 2005 at around 10:00 local time, another Amaszonas Caravan crash-landed, this time near Colquiri. The aircraft with two pilots and ten passengers on board had been on a chartered flight from La Paz to Sucre, when it encountered atmospheric icing conditions, thus being unable to maintain height. There were no fatalities, but as a consequence, Amaszonas was stripped of the allowance to operate Caravans on passenger flights.
- On 27 February 2011 at 15:10 local time, an Amaszonas Fairchild Metro 23 was substantially damaged when the left landing gear collapsed upon landing at El Alto International Airport. The aircraft carrying six passengers and two crew members had been on a scheduled flight from San Borja to Rurrenabaque when problems with the undercarriage occurred, leading the pilots to divert to La Paz. All persons on board survived the ensuing crash landing.
- On November 9th 2017 an Amaszonas Uruguay Canadair CRJ-200 was operating flight 749 from Asuncion, Paraguay to Montevideo, Uruguay and suffered a tyre explosion at the gate damaging another aircraft and seriously injuring a ground worker. The worker was taken to a military hospital where he had both legs amputated. The airline postponed all operations of November 10 and reestablished services on November 11.