issued to commemorate LACSA’s 20th anniversary LACSA was formed on October 17, 1945, with the help of
Pan American World Airways, and started operations on June 1, 1946, using
Douglas DC-3s for local services within Costa Rica, operating as an affiliate of Pan Am. The airline was designated as Costa Rica's
Flag carrier in 1949 LACSA operated the
Douglas DC-6B four-engined piston airliner from 1960 until 1976 on their regular passenger, and eventually freight, scheduled flights to Miami International Airport. The airline introduced the first of their
BAC One-Eleven twin-engined jet airliners onto their Caribbean passenger route network in April 1967. The airline also operated a subsidiary in the
Cayman Islands,
Cayman Brac Airways (CBA) Ltd., which it sold a 51% controlling interest in the late 1960s to the Cayman Islands government, which in turn used the air carrier to form
Cayman Airways. LACSA served
Grand Cayman for many years as an intermediate stop on its services between San José, Costa Rica and Miami. Beginning in 1998, TACA/LACSA was one of the member airlines comprising the
TACA Airlines alliance along with
Aviateca, Nica,
Isleña Airlines, and five other regional airlines. In 2008, a new fleet of
Embraer 190 jets was introduced. Also in 2008 a new TACA logo was introduced, followed by a new fleet of Embraer 190 airplanes registered in Costa Rica and operated under the
LACSA code. In October 2009,
Avianca and TACA announced their merger plans to be completed in 2010. By May 28, 2013, the airlines began operating as a single commercial brand using the
Avianca name. On May 10, 2020, Avianca filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the
United States after failing to pay bondholders, becoming one of the major airlines to file for bankruptcy due to the
COVID-19 pandemic crisis. ==Destinations==