HISTORY GUEST AVIACO
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Alicante . In 1951 , it carried out its first charter services with two weekly Paris-Palma flights for Club Mediterranée , and obtained the concession to carry night mail between several Spanish cities , starting , on July 7 , 1954 , with the Madrid-Barcelona line . Between 1952 and 1953 , the fleet expanded with three Bloch-161 Languedocs sourced from Air France , and more powerful Bristol 170 Mk . 31s .
AN IBERIA SUBSIDIARY
Despite its growth , Aviaco faced severe economic problems , the solution to which came on May 4 , 1955 , when the Shareholders ’ Board authorized the Spanish State to acquire a controlling stake in the company through the INI ( National Institute of Industry ), which it promptly did , transferring the headquarters from Bilbao to Madrid .
For the next four and a half decades , the Aviaco and Iberia state-owned companies were involved in a strained relationship that had its ups and downs and involved decisions that prevented Aviaco , soon to be the second-largest Spanish airline , from competing with Iberia on an equal footage . It was often forced to comply with orders and structural changes that were difficult to understand .
With the state ’ s backing , Aviaco continued its expansion by purchasing five more Languedocs , and , in 1957 , eight De Havilland DH-114 Heron 2Ds for low-demand routes such as Madrid to Córdoba , Santander , San Sebastián , Badajoz , and Oviedo . A year earlier , on March 23 , 1956 , Aviaco had transported its one-millionth passenger .
2 In 1952 , the Bristol 170 Freighter MK . 31 complemented the MK . 21s with which the company had started operations in 1948 . // CARLOS SALAZAR
3 Eight De Havilland DH-114 Heron 2Ds arrived in 1957 . These served lowdemand routes . // FRANCISCO ANDREU
4 The Bloch-61s were acquired from Air France at a low price , but the cost in human lives was too high due to various accidents . // AUTHOR ’ S COLLECTION
5 Iberia transferred a good part of its Douglas DC-4s to Aviaco . The airline would subsequently serve as a charter airline .
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However , a high accident rate tarnished Aviaco ’ s reputation
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