Pluna
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Pluna (Primera Línea Uruguaya de Navegación Aérea) is Uruguay's national and international airline company, based in Montevideo. It operates scheduled services in South America and to Spain.
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History
The airline was established in September 1936 and started operations on November 20, 1936. It was formed by the brothers Jorge Márquez Vaesa and Alberto Márquez Vaesa, who flew two De Havilland 5 passenger Dragonfly aircraft, from Montevideo to Salto and Paysandú. The two planes were batptized Churrinche and San Alberto, the latter to honor the brother's father. Pluna in their first fiscal year flew 2,600 passengers, a huge success for that era. It also flew 20,000 pieces of mail, and 70,000 newspapers.
The 1940s saw Pluna's expansion into the international field, and Porto Alegre, Brazil, became Pluna's first international destination. Later, an extension to São Paulo was added from Porto Alegre. Also added to Pluna's network were Santa Cruz in Bolivia, as well as the Argentinian destinations of Buenos Aires, Rosario and Córdoba. The airline was nationalised in 1951.
Pluna's growth slowed considerably for the next 3 decades, but it entered the jet age soon after jets were introduced to the world, and added JFK International Airport in New York, and Miami, Florida as part of the Pluna route system, while using DC-10 and Boeing 737 aircraft.
In the 1980s, Pluna started flying to Madrid, Asunción, Rio de Janeiro and Santiago de Chile, but services to JFK and Miami were suspended. The city of Punta del Este in Uruguay's south, flourished as a tourist destination, and Pluna also benefited from that. In addition, an office was opened in Tel Aviv, Israel.
The 1990's saw financial trouble loom for Pluna, and in 1994 a 49% stake was sold to a Varig-led consortium. Many people know the company as Pluna-Varig. Nevertheless, Pluna still continues being active with over 200 weekly flights from Montevideo's international airport, using Boeing 737 and Boeing 767 equipment.
The airline is owned by the Government of Uruguay (49%), Varig (49%) and Victor Mesa (2%).
Services
Pluna operates the following services (at January 2005):
- Domestic scheduled destinations: Montevideo and Punta del Este.
- International scheduled destinations: Buenos Aires, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago and Sao Paulo.
Fleet
The fleet currently consists of (at June 2005):
- 1 Boeing 757-200
- 1 Boeing 767-300ER
- 1 Boeing 737-300
- 1 Boeing 737-200
- 1 ATR 42-320
External links
- Pluna (http://www.pluna.aero/)
- Pluna Boeing Fleet Detail (http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/PLUNA?show=all)
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