Empresa Ecuatoriana De Aviacion

History

Ecuatoriana de Aviación traced its roots to a 1957 joint venture between American and Ecuadorian investors; after the foreign partners withdrew, the Ecuadorian state established a successor company in 1974 that became the country's flag carrier, operating jet services to North America and Europe through the 1970s and 1980s. Chronic unreliability and mounting losses, worsened by regional economic crisis and competition from carriers such as American Airlines, led the airline to stop flying at the end of September 1993. A privatized relaunch followed in 1995–1996 under Brazil's VASP, but that revival also collapsed after Ecuador's economic crisis of the late 1990s.

Current Operations

Ecuatoriana no longer exists as an operating airline: its remaining routes and operations were absorbed by LAN Chile's Ecuadorian subsidiary (LAN Ecuador, later part of LATAM) by the mid-2000s, and the original brand has not flown scheduled service since. Reports over the years of investor groups seeking to revive the "Ecuatoriana" name have surfaced periodically, but as of 2026 no such relaunch has resulted in an operating certificate or scheduled flights.

Last verified 2026-09-02· Source: airline public disclosures, company press releases & aviation-industry reporting.

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