Luis Munoz Marin International Airport
San Juan - Puerto Rico (April 1989)

AIR HAITI

Air Haiti was set up in December 1969 and began cargo operation the following year from its main base at Port-au-Prince Haiti. Its main aircraft was the Boeing B707, Douglas DC-6A and there Curtis C-46 commandos. The C-46 would make twice a week appearance at San Juan usually on Monday and Wednesday morning. Air Haiti went bankrupt in 1982.

AIR BVI

The local airline of British Virgin Islands began operations in August 1971 with BN Islanders. The DC-3s were added to the fleet in 1975. The turbine powered HS-748s, leased from Danair UK, and replaced the DC-3 during 1985. Air BVI flew mainly from Tortola to San Juan, but also served other destinations within the British and US Virgin Islands. Air BVI went bankrupt during the summer of 1991.

AERO VIRGIN ISLANDS

This was a scheduled passenger airline based at St Thomas. Founded in 1977 its main service was to the capital of Puerto Rico, San Juan International airport. The Aero Virgins fleet consisted mainly of the sturdy Douglas DC-3. They briefly operated a single Martin 404 for a year. Due to increased competition and a devastating hurricane (1989) they were forced out of business.

AEROCHAGO AIRLINES

This airline initially began operations under the name of Aeromar, using C-46s on cargo flights from Santo Domingo. In the early eighties it also leased B707s and DC-8s mainly for the flights to Miami. Around the early eighties it changed it name to Aerochago and started to operate a single (ex TWA) L-749 Connie on weekly flights to San Juan. Later on, two Lockheed L1049 Super Constellations were purchased and they were regularly seen at Miami International airport. Additionally a single DC-7C freighter was used. During the mid eighties a single Convair CV-240 was used, but this a/c was lost in a tragic accident.

AMSA

Aerolineas Mundo SA was founded in 1986 and it was first known as Air Mar Freight Systems. This airline first began in the early 1980s with a fleet of two C-46s based at San Juan. Once AMSA was founded it relocated to Santo Domingo and incorporated two Super Constellations. Amsa freight operations, to Miami and San Juan, were in direct competition with Aerochago. Both Super Connie’s were lost, one crashed off the coast of Puerto Rico and the other was damaged by a ground incident at Borinquen. Instead Amsa switched to the Douglas DC-7.

SOUTHERN FLYER

This all cargo airlines were based in Puerto Rico and used three all-cargo DC-3s during the 1980s base at San Juan.

PRINAIR

Once the biggest regional airline in the US with over a million passengers a year, it became a well-known company throughout the Caribbean. At its height it operated 25 lycoming-powered Herons from its base at San Juan. It briefly operated Casa 212s and Convair 580s before the company went bankrupt (July 1985). Prinair did have a standard livery, but many Heron’s where painted in different colour. During my visit the complete fleet was withdrawn from service were sadly parked in a remote corner of the airport. I noted the airframe: N552PR, N564PR, N570PR, N573PR, N581PR, N582PR, N584PR and N585PR.

FOUR STAR AIR CARGO

During the mid eighties Four Star Air Cargo was a newcomer on the cargo scene at San Juan. They started cargo operations from 1982, at the nearby Virgin Islands with a single Beech 18 and three DC-3s. Later on the centre of operations moved to San Juan. For awhile the DC-3 was supplemented with a couple of Convair 440’s, who flew a daily bread run to St-Thomas. During 2006 they took over the cargo operation of Tolair and are now the biggest DC-3 cargo operator at San Juan. See also: http://www.fourstaraircargo.com

TOL Air

According to Jorge Toledo, president of the firm, the company started its operations May 6, 1983 with a single Cessna 182, at that time, operating between Puerto Rico and Beef Island. Later additional Beech-18s supplemented the fleet. This increased capacity to 2.500 pounds per trip. That same year, the company extended the service to St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and St. Kitts. Due to a big increase in activity, the company bought three more airplanes in the shape of the Douglas DC-3. That year 1988, Tol Air started flying from San Juan to the Dominican Republic. Owing to continuous growth (1992) in the cargo sector, Tol air bought its first Turbo-Prop, a Metro II, to be used between San Juan and the Dominican Republic. During it peak, the fleet included four airplanes Cessna 402B, capable to transport 1.500 pounds, three Convair 240-440 capable to transport a load from 10 to 13 thousand pounds, five Be-18a and six DC-3s. With a fleet of 18 airplanes, Tol-Air had the capacity to handle up to 100 pounds of daily load to any destination in the Caribbean. Since a couple of years Tolair has gone out of business and been taken over by Four Star Aviation.

Source: Latin glory – Airlines of Latin America – 1995 Airlife Publication