Aviation History
Commercial aviation reached Ecuador early by South American standards, with airlines such as SEDTA (a Lufthansa-linked carrier) and SAN operating domestic and regional routes from the 1930s onward. Ecuador built two long-running national carriers, the privately founded Ecuatoriana de Aviación (1957) and the military-origin, later state-owned TAME (1962), both of which struggled financially for decades and ultimately failed — Ecuatoriana folding for good in 2006 and TAME being liquidated in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic compounded years of losses. As of the mid-2020s Ecuador has no true state flag carrier; LATAM Airlines Ecuador (descended from the 1980s carrier Aerogal) and Avianca Ecuador are the largest carriers serving the domestic and international market.
Sociedad Ecuatoriana de Transportes Aéreos (SEDTA), linked to Germany's Lufthansa, was among Ecuador's earliest airlines, flying domestic and Andean regional routes before World War II disrupted German-linked carriers in the Americas.
Compañía Ecuatoriana de Aviación was established in May 1957 by American and Ecuadorian investors, beginning operations that August and later becoming Ecuador's principal international flag carrier.
Transportes Aéreos Militares Ecuatorianos (TAME) was founded on 17 December 1962 by the Ecuadorian Air Force, later becoming the country's dominant domestic carrier.
The government took control of Ecuatoriana de Aviación, renaming it Empresa Ecuatoriana de Aviación and formalizing its role as state flag carrier.
Ecuatoriana suspended operations amid an economic downturn, resuming only after a 1995 privatization deal that brought in Brazil's VASP as majority owner.
After years of ownership changes and financial trouble following its 1990s privatization, Ecuatoriana de Aviación shut down for good.
TAME was transferred from Air Force administration to a fully state-owned commercial airline, expanding international routes as Ecuador's flag carrier.
The Ecuadorian government liquidated TAME on 19–20 May 2020, citing longstanding financial losses worsened by the COVID-19 collapse in air travel demand, leaving Ecuador without a state flag carrier.
Ecuatoriana de Aviación · TAME · SAN/SAETA · LATAM Airlines Ecuador (formerly Aerogal) · Avianca Ecuador
Compiled from public encyclopedic and aviation trade-press sources; exact ownership percentages and minor date discrepancies across sources (e.g., SEDTA's founding year) could not be fully cross-verified.