Grupo TACA

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TACA
IATA
TA		 ICAO
TAI		 Callsign
TACA
Founded 1931
Hubs
Secondary hubs
Focus cities
Frequent flyer program Distancia
Member lounge Salones VIP
Fleet size 36 (+37 orders)
Destinations 50+
Parent company Grupo TACA
Headquarters San Salvador, El Salvador
Key people Roberto Kriete (CEO), Alfredo Schildknecht (President),
Website: http://www.taca.com

TACA is the flag carrier of El Salvador, comprising a group of five combined Central American airlines. Originally an acronym of Transportes Aéreos Centroamericanos (Central American Air Transport), it now stands for Transportes Aéreos del Continente Americano (Air Transport of the American Continent), reflecting its expansion to North, Central and South America. It flies to 21 different countries.

The five airlines are:

Lacsa is the only airline of the group that still operates flights with its own flight numbers. Its hub is at Juan Santamaría International Airport in San José, Costa Rica. TACA Peru is now an important member of the group. It operates to TACA, flights to Perú and South America.

Taca's logo is five golden macaws flying in formation, representing the five original constituent airlines. Each airline flies similar aircraft in similar paint schemes, but retains its own name on the fuselage.

Contents

[edit] Service

A TACA plane in modern livery.
A TACA plane in modern livery.
An Airbus A320 departing from Toulouse, France
An Airbus A320 departing from Toulouse, France
A TACA Airbus A321 arriving at Mexico City, Juarez International Airport, Mexico
A TACA Airbus A321 arriving at Mexico City, Juarez International Airport, Mexico
A TACA Boeing 737 landing at Miami International Airport.
A TACA Boeing 737 landing at Miami International Airport.
The TACA Logo goes through many alternative colorings. This logo is common on the livery of planes. However, the logo also on this page is also used by TACA International Airlines, and serve as the primary colors for kiosks in airports.
The TACA Logo goes through many alternative colorings. This logo is common on the livery of planes. However, the logo also on this page is also used by TACA International Airlines, and serve as the primary colors for kiosks in airports.

Taca has scheduled flights to some airports in the Western Hemisphere, but it also has charter flights from Juan Santamaría International Airport to Cancún International Airport and to San Andrés, Colombia. Its three flight hubs or "Centros de Conexiones" are:[1]

Taca's headquarters are in San Salvador, El Salvador, moving from New Orleans in 1982.[2]

Taca's regional airlines system includes the following airlines:

[edit] History

Taca was founded in Honduras in 1931 by New Zealander Lowell Yerex. TACA was once the "world's largest cargo carrier."

[edit] Destinations

Main Article: TACA destinations, Lacsa destinations, TACA Peru destinations

Taca has a total of 50 destinations around the world and continues to grow. The Los Angeles mayor will ask Taca to open a San Salvador-Ontario route. Also, the recent San Jose-Santo Domingo route will be increased from 4 weekly to 7 weekly.

  • The hub at Comalapa International Airport makes connections between all of Central America and North America (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, New York, Miami, Dallas, Toronto, Houston, Mexico City, Oakland) as well as Lima, Perú.
  • The Lacsa's hub at Juan Santamaría International Airport is in charge of the Caribbean routes (Havana and Santo Domingo), South America (Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Lima) also 3 US cities (Los Angeles, New York and Miami) and all of Central America.
  • The hub at Jorge Chavez International Airport is in charge of all connections to the South American routes and serves El Salvador and Costa Rica, and at July 1,2008 will serve Guatemala City.

This system gives TACA an excellent coverage of all the continent.

[edit] Fleet

[edit] Current fleet

As of August 2007 the Taca fleet includes [3] :

The A321s are used in the higher density routes: San Salvador-Mexico City, San Salvador-Los Angeles, San Salvador-Miami, San Salvador-Managua, San Salvador-Guatemala, Managua-Miami, San Jose-San Salvador, San Jose-Panama, San Jose-Bogotá, Lima-Caracas, Lima-Buenos Aires. The average fleet age is 4.7 years old in June 2006. [4]

[edit] Historic fleet

Taca has operated some of the following types:

[edit] Subsidiaries and alliances

Distancia is Taca's frequent flyer program. It also has a corporate incentive program called Avancia that can be converted 1-to-1 to "Distancia" miles.

In addition to earning miles on Taca and Taca Regional flights, Taca has partnerships with the following airlines:

On 23 May 2007, Lufthansa and Taca signed a memorandum of understanding to code share on domestic and international flights. Taca and Lufthansa are also considering reciprocal mileage earning in their respective frequent flyer programs, and reciprocal lounge access.[5]

[edit] Incidents and accidents

May 24, 1988, New Orleans, Louisiana, Boeing 737-3T0: TACA Flight 110: A double engine flameout due to water ingestion, a result of an inflight encounter with an area of very heavy rain and hail. The design of the engines and FAA water ingestion certification standards did not take account of the waterfall rates that can be expected in moderate or higher intensity thunderstorms. NTSB Report

April 5, 1993, Guatemala City, Guatemala, Boeing 767-200, Flight 510: The jet landed on a rain-slicked runway at too fast a speed which resulted in the plane running off the end of the runway. There were no fatalities reported and only a few passengers had any injuries. This accident is notable in that it was caught on video inside the cabin.NTSB Report Video of a passenger on the aircraft at the time of the accident

May 30, 2008, Toncontín International Airport, Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Airbus A320 EI-TAF: TACA Flight 390, from San Salvador overran the runway in approach to Tegucigalpa Airport, with bad weather conditions. There were five fatalities.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Map of routes - TACA.COM
  2. ^ FLUG REVUE October 2006: Taca thrives with Airbus fleet
  3. ^ Flight International, 3-9 October 2007
  4. ^ TACA Fleet Age
  5. ^ TACA and Lufthansa ponder joint services, Lufthansa press release, 23 May 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-23.
  6. ^ "Plane skids off runway in Honduras, 5 dead", Reuters, May 30, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-05-30. 

[edit] External links