HISTORY GUEST

Story by JAVIER RODRIGUEZ Photos and Images AS NOTED

AFTER WORLD WAR II , led by the authoritarian General Francisco Franco , Spain was isolated internationally and suffered severe economic hardships . These difficulties did not stop the establishment of Aviaco ( AO ), which survived for more than half a century , until being eventually absorbed by Iberia ( IB ). This is its history .

DIFFICULT BEGINNINGS

Almost all of the eight partners who founded Aviaco were from Bilbao ( in the Basque country ), and contributed 40 million pesetas to a share capital of 100 million . The carrier ’ s name , Aviación y Comercio , Sociedad Anónima ( Aviaco ), reflected the constraints imposed by a 1946 decree that placed all Spanish scheduled flights under the monopoly of Iberia , allowing other airlines to operate only non-scheduled traffic .

The motivations behind the establishment of Aviaco were merely commercial . The goal was to generate foreign currency — which was then scarce in Spain — by exporting and transporting

72 AIRWAYS MAGAZINE AUGUST 2024 www . airwaysmag . com