Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Lloyd Aereo Boliviano Empressa Nacional de Transportes (LAB) poster, 1940s


This seems to depict a Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar from 1941 of which LAB acquired four.

Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano began on September 15, 1925 when it was founded in the city of La Paz by Guillermo Kyllman. The first part of the name was chosen from the London insurance market Lloyd's of London, due to its image of safety and stability although there was no relationship of signatures or agreements between the parties.

The airline's first aircraft was a Junkers F-13 , with capacity for two crew and four passengers, a gift from the German community in Bolivia. The second LAB plane arrived on September 15, 1926, at which time air navigation in the country and the advantages offered by the airline were already being appreciated.

The first international flight of Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano was in July 1930, with planes from the Brazilian airline Syndicato Cóndor Ltda. The flight was between Corumbá (Brazil) and Rio de Janeiro. Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano used its own plane for the route between La Paz and Rio de Janeiro, and from La Paz to Corumbá. With these flights, Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano and Cóndor Ltda. had a commercial agreement.

Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano was the second airline in South America after the Colombian Avianca. This Colombian airline was the first in America and the second in the world, although as a name Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano is the oldest in South America, since Avianca was called Scadta in its early years. Soon it increased its flights to destinations in Brazil and its fleet began to grow as well.

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