Grupo TACA

History

TACA (Transportes Aéreos del Continente Americano) was founded in Honduras in 1931 by New Zealand-born aviator Lowell Yerex, initially hauling cargo before adding passenger services around 1940 and expanding into a network spanning much of Central America. The airline relocated its base to San Salvador, El Salvador in 1945 (with a wartime-era relocation to New Orleans during El Salvador's civil war, until 1980) and, operating as TACA International Airlines, became the anchor of the Grupo TACA holding company, which also controlled affiliated national carriers such as TACA Costa Rica. It grew into Central America's dominant airline group, building hubs in San Salvador, San José and Lima, and joined Star Alliance in 2009.

Current Operations

TACA no longer exists as an independent airline brand: on 7 October 2009 TACA International agreed to combine its operations with Colombia's Avianca, the merger was approved by regulators through 2009-2010, and after several years of parallel branding TACA operated its last flight under its own name on 20 May 2013, transitioning fully to Avianca's identity the next day as what is now Avianca El Salvador. The carrier continues flying today as Avianca El Salvador, part of Avianca Group (Avianca Holdings) and a Star Alliance member; it retained the ICAO code TAI and the callsign 'TACA' for years afterward but switched from the historic 'TA' IATA code to Avianca's 'AV' code on 1 January 2024, completing its absorption into the unified Avianca brand.

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

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