Aviation History
Colombia holds a unique place in aviation history: SCADTA, founded in Barranquilla in December 1919, is widely recognized as the oldest airline in the Americas still operating today (as Avianca) and the second-oldest continuously operating airline in the world after KLM. Early service exploited the Magdalena River corridor to link coastal ports with inland cities in a country with famously difficult overland terrain. SCADTA merged with rival carrier SACO in 1940 to form Avianca, which entered the jet age with the Boeing 707 around 1960 and grew into Colombia's dominant international carrier. In 2010, Avianca merged with El Salvador's TACA to form what became Avianca Holdings, later joining the Star Alliance. Like many airlines worldwide, Avianca filed for bankruptcy protection during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, emerging restructured in 2021, and Colombia's aviation market today includes Avianca alongside newer low-cost entrants.
The Colombian-German Air Transport Society (SCADTA) was founded in Barranquilla, becoming the oldest airline in the Americas still operating today.
SCADTA launched regular seaplane service along the Magdalena River, among the earliest sustained scheduled airline operations in the world.
A merger with rival carrier SACO created Aerovías Nacionales de Colombia (Avianca), consolidating Colombian commercial aviation.
Avianca introduced Boeing 707 jetliners, modernizing its international long-haul network.
Avianca consolidated its hub at Bogotá's El Dorado International Airport, becoming Colombia's dominant international gateway carrier.
Avianca merged with Central American carrier TACA to form Avianca Holdings, later joining the Star Alliance in 2012.
The COVID-19 pandemic's travel collapse led Avianca Holdings to file for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, restructuring and emerging in December 2021.
Avianca · Viva Air (defunct 2023) · LATAM Colombia · EasyFly
Compiled from general public/encyclopedic aviation history sources; Avianca's post-2021 corporate structure and Colombia's low-cost carrier landscape (e.g., Viva Air's 2023 shutdown) have changed recently and should be verified for current status.
Aviation Firsts
Olaya Herrera Airport — Medellín (1932): Opened 5 July 1932; still active today for regional/general aviation since José María Córdova International opened in 1985 for Medellín's main traffic — the oldest Colombian airport still in operation found in this research. · Wikipedia ↗
Techo International Airport — Bogotá (1928): Light-aircraft strip by 1928, fully inaugurated 7 August 1930; operated 1930–1959 then closed. Earlier than Olaya Herrera but no longer operating. · Wikipedia ↗
No authoritative source crowns a single 'oldest airport in Colombia' — Techo (1930, closed 1959) predates Olaya Herrera (1932) but no longer operates; SCADTA also ran seaplane services from the Magdalena River at Barranquilla from 1919–1920, an even earlier water aerodrome, not a conventional airport.
SCADTA (Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transportes Aéreos) (1919): Founded 5 December 1919, began operations 5 September 1920 — one of the world's earliest airlines. Dissolved 14 June 1940 after U.S. pressure over its Austrian majority shareholder; its assets were merged with regional carrier SACO to form Aerovías Nacionales de Colombia (Avianca), a new entity dating from 1940. Avianca claims SCADTA's history as its own, but per Wikipedia this is Avianca's own claim, not an independent legal continuation. · Wikipedia ↗
Avianca (Aerovías Nacionales de Colombia) (1940): The actual legal-entity founding of today's flag carrier, formed from the 1940 SCADTA/SACO merger. Still flying (rebranded lowercase 'avianca' since October 2023); has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy twice (2004, 2020). · AV ↗ · Wikipedia ↗
1919 (SCADTA's founding) is the airline-activity origin; 1940 (the SCADTA/SACO merger into Avianca) is the actual legal-entity founding of today's flag carrier — a dissolution-and-merger, not a straight continuation.
Swissport (Switzerland), 2026: Swissport announced a binding agreement (22 September 2026) to acquire a majority stake in Giraldo Hermanos International (GHI), a Colombian ground handler in Bogotá and Medellín — explicitly described as 'Swissport's entry into Colombia,' still subject to regulatory approval as of the source date. No earlier documented foreign GH entrant into Colombia was found, which is a surprisingly late first entry for a major multinational given Bogotá's hub significance — worth re-checking once the deal closes. (best-documented candidate found — not source-confirmed as literally first.) · Travel Extra ↗
Aviation Museums1
Fleet by Operator
Passengers by Operator
Annual Passenger Traffic by Airport
Airlines8
Live Air Traffic1 aircraft
Source: adsb.lol — community ADS-B network. Busiest of this country’s top 6 profiled airports by traffic right now, not a full national count.
Aircraft Spotted Here
Photos © their respective photographers, via JetPhotos.com — click a photo to view the original.
Airport Operators2
Ownership & operator links shown only once independently verified against a public source.