| Grupo TACA | ||
|---|---|---|
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| IATA TA |
ICAO TAI |
Callsign TACA |
| Founded | 1931 | |
| Hubs | ||
| Focus cities |
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| Frequent flyer program | Distancia | |
| Member lounge | Salones VIP | |
| Fleet size | 37 (+20) | |
| Destinations | 50+ | |
| Parent company | Grupo TACA | |
| Headquarters | San Salvador, El Salvador | |
| Key people | Roberto Kriete (CEO), Alfredo Schildknecht (President), Kriete Family (Owner) | |
| Website: http://www.taca.com | ||
Grupo Taca is the flag airline of El Salvador, comprised of a group of five combined Central American airlines. The company is owned by the Kriete family of San Salvador. Originally an acronym of Transportes Aéreos Centroamericanos (Central American Air Transport), it now stands for Transportes Aéreos del Continente Americano (Air Transport of the American Continent), reflecting its expansion to North, Central and South America. It flies to about 50 different countries. The five airlines are:
- Aviateca (Guatemala)
- Lacsa (Costa Rica)
- NICA (Nicaragua)
- Taca (El Salvador)
- Taca de Honduras (Honduras)
Lacsa is the only airline of the group that still operates flights with its own flight numbers. Its hub is at Juan Santamaría International Airport in San José, Costa Rica. TACA Peru is now an important member of the group. It operates to TACA, flights to Perú and South America. Grupo Taca is also considering opening airlines in Panama, Argentina and Chile -- named "Taca Panama", "Taca Argentina" and "Taca Chile" respectively -- to compete with other large Latin American airline groups, including Copa Airlines, Aerolíneas Argentinas and the LAN Airlines group. Taca's logo is five golden macaws flying in formation, representing the five original constituent airlines. Each airline flies similar aircraft in similar paint schemes, but retains its own name on the fuselage.
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Service
Taca has scheduled flights to some airports in the Western Hemisphere, but it also has charter flights from Juan Santamaría International Airport to Cancún International Airport and to San Andres, Colombia. Its three flight hubs or "Centros de Conexiones" are:[1]
- Comalapa International Airport in San Salvador, El Salvador
- Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima, Peru
- Juan Santamaría International Airport in San José, Costa Rica.
And Starting in 2008 Taca will have another hub or "Centro de Conexiones" in Guatemala on "La Aurora International Airport" serving connections to Central and South America, and increasing their daily flights. Taca's headquarters are in San Salvador, El Salvador, moving from New Orleans in 1982.[2] The company is owned by the Kriete family of San Salvador. Taca's regional airlines system includes the following airlines:
- Aeroperlas (Panama)
- Volaris (Mexico)
- Aviateca (Guatemala) (Formerly Inter Regional)
- Islena Airlines (Honduras)
- La Costeña (Nicaragua)
- SANSA (Costa Rica)
History
Taca was founded in Honduras in 1931 by New Zealander Lowell Yerex. TACA was once the "world's largest cargo carrier."
Destinations
Main Article: TACA destinations, Lacsa destinations, TACA Peru destinations Taca has a total of 50 destinations around the world and continues to grow. The Los Angeles mayor will ask Taca to open a San Salvador-Ontario route. Also, the recent San Jose-Santo Domingo route will be increased from 4 weekly to 7 weekly.
- The hub at Comalapa International Airport makes connections between Central America and North America (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, New York, Miami, Dallas, Toronto, Houston, Mexico City, Oakland) as well as Lima, Perú and all Central America.
- The Lacsa's hub at Juan Santamaría International Airport is in charge of the Caribbean routes (Havana and Santo Domingo) and the northern countries of South America (Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Lima) also 3 USA cities (Los Angeles, New York and Miami) and all Central America.
- The hub at Jorge Chavez International Airport is in charge of all connections to the South American routes and serves El Salvador and Costa Rica.
- The hub starting on 2008 at La Aurora International Airport is in charge of the South America (Lima, Bogota, Quito, Caracas), North America destinations (Washington-Dulles, Chicago, New York-JFK, Los Angeles, Miami], two Mexican Destinations (Cancún, Mexico DF)and serve destinations in almost all Central America (El Salvador, Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, Costa Rica, and Panama that is starting in 2008)
This system gives TACA an excellent coverage of all the continent.
Fleet
Current fleet
As of August 2006 the Taca fleet includes [3] :
- 4 Airbus A321-200 (plus 5 on order)
- 26 Airbus A320-200 (plus 15 on order)
- 7 Airbus A319-100 (plus 6 on order)
- 11 (on order)Embraer 190
The A321s are used in the higher density routes: San Salvador-Mexico City, San Salvador-Los Angeles, San Salvador-Miami, San Salvador-Washington, San Salvador-Guatemala, San Jose-San Salvador, San Jose-Panama, San Jose-Bogotá, Lima-Caracas, Lima-Buenos Aires. The average fleet age is 4.7 years old in June 2006. [4]
Historic fleet
Taca has operated some of the following types:
- Stinson Reliant
- Bellanca CH-400 Skyrocket (The Smithsonian keeps a photo of TACA's Bellanca)
- Ford 5-AT Tri-Motor (The Smithsonian keeps one of TACA's actual Fords)
- Douglas DC-4
- Lockheed 18 Lodestar (The Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society keeps one of TACA's actual Lockheeds)
- Vickers Viscount 768
- BAC 1-11
- Boeing 737
Boeing 767-200
Subsidiaries and alliances
Distancia is Taca's frequent flyer program. It also has a corporate incentive program called Avancia that can be converted 1-to-1 to "Distancia" miles. In addition to earning miles on Taca and Taca Regional flights, Taca has partnerships with the following airlines:
Taca previously code-shared with American Airlines (member of Oneworld), however this partnership was abandoned in favor of United Airlines. On 23 May 2007, Lufthansa and Taca signed a memorandum of understanding to code share on domestic and international flights. Taca and Lufthansa are also considering reciprocal mileage earning in their respective frequent flyer programs, and reciprocal lounge access.[5]
Incidents and accidents
May 24, 1988, New Orleans, Louisiana, Boeing 737-3T0: A double engine flameout due to water ingestion, a result of an inflight encounter with an area of very heavy rain and hail. The design of the engines and FAA water ingestion certification standards did not take account of the waterfall rates that can be expected in moderate or higher intensity thunderstorms. NTSB Report April 5, 1993, Guatemala City, Guatemala, Boeing 767-200, Flight 510: The jet landed on a rain-slicked runway at too fast a speed which resulted in the plane running off the end of the runway. There were no fatalities reported and only a few passengers had any injuries. This accident is notable in that it was caught on video inside the cabin.NTSB Report Video of a passenger on the aircraft at the time of the accident
External links
References
- ^ Map of routes - TACA.COM
- ^ FLUG REVUE October 2006: Taca thrives with Airbus fleet
- ^ Flight International, 3-9 October 2006
- ^ TACA Fleet Age
- ^ TACA and Lufthansa ponder joint services, Lufthansa press release, 23 May 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-23.
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