Línea Aérea Amaszonas S.A.[note 1] operating as Amas Bolivia (legally as Compañía de Servicios de Transporte Aéreo Amaszonas S.A.) was a regional airline based in Bolivia, headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra with its administrative center in La Paz.[1] It operated scheduled and chartered short-haul passenger flights throughout the northern and northeastern regions of the country as well as to neighboring Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile and Paraguay, with its network's hub that was located at El Alto International Airport. It was acquired by NELLA Airlines Group (a Brazilian-US holding company) in August 2021[2] and sold to businessman Luiz Divino in September 2023.[3]
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.[8]
In 2015, Amaszonas purchased the Uruguayan airline BQB Líneas Aéreas, 5 days after the company shut down its operations due to a crisis that began in 2014. From May 4, the airline took over the routes operated by BQB before the closure of operations, which were Aeroparque Jorge Newbery and Silvio Pettirossi International Airport.[9]
In August 2021, Nella Linhas Aéreas, a Brazilian-based company registered in the U.S., acquired 100% control over Amaszonas. Nella announced a strategic partnership with Boeing on July 29, 2021, expecting the delivery of a Boeing 737-500 in August, but it never happened.[10][11]
On August 8, 2023, Amaszonas temporarily suspended its operations after a dispute with its aircraft's lessor and the Bolivian government. By the following month, Nella ended up selling the airline to businessman Luis Divino.[12]
As of January 2022, only Air Europa maintains an E-Ticket Interlineal agreement which allows the airlines to use the KIU System (Amadeus) to generate reservations in the domestic destination served by Amaszonas.[15]
The Amaszonas fleet consisted of the following aircraft (as of August 2023):[16][17]
Former
The airline previously operated the following aircraft:[17]
Incidents
On July 10, 2001, at 16:47 local time, the two pilots of an Amaszonas Cessna 208 Caravan (registered CP-2395) 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.[18]
On January 25, 2005, at around 10:00 local time, another Amaszonas Caravan (registered CP-2412) 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.[19]
On February 27, 2011, at 15:10 local time, an Amaszonas Fairchild Metro 23 (registered CP-2473) [20] 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.[21]
^The name "Amaszonas" is a pun on the Spanish term "A más zonas", which means "to more zones". The pronunciation is nearly identical to "Amazonas", Spanish for the Amazon River, whose drainage basin covers northeastern Bolivia.
References
^Home page. Amaszonas. Retrieved on 12 August 2021. "Calle 12, Esquina Sánchez Bustamante, Edificio Gogo N°799, Calacoto, La Paz, Bolivia"
^"Brazilian airline Nella announces purchase of Bolivian Amaszonas". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
^"Amaszonas has new owner, made official by Nella Airlines Group". El Deber. 2023-09-29. Retrieved 2023-10-15.}
^"Profile for: Amaszonas". Aero Transport Data Bank. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
^"Information about Amaszonas". rzjets.net. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
^ a b"Bolivia gets new scheduled carrier". volaspheric. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
^"Amaszonas Fleet Details and History". planespotters.net. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
^Airliner World: 15. January 2015. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^"Amaszonas confirmó adquisición de BQB. Comenzará a operar el 4 de mayo". 2015-04-18. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
^"NELLA Airlines, Regional/Commuter". 2021-07-29. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
^"Bolivia's Amaszonas sold to US-based NELLA Airlines Inc". 2021-08-11. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
^"Sale of Amaszonas is almost complete, says Bolivian government". Airdatanews.com. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
^"Mapa de Rutas". Amaszonas. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
^"Amaszonas". www.amaszonas.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-08-16.
^"Air Europa Routes and Destinations" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-01-02.
Media related to Línea Aérea Amaszonas at Wikimedia Commons
