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| Founded | 1945 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceased operations | 1994 | ||||||
| Hubs | Toncontín International Airport | ||||||
| Secondary hubs | Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport | ||||||
| Focus cities | Tegucigalpa,San Pedro Sula,Managua,New Orleans | ||||||
| Alliance | Tan-Sahsa | ||||||
| Fleet size | 41 | ||||||
| Destinations | 40 destinations: Central America, North America, South America & the Caribbean | ||||||
| Parent company | Pan American Airways | ||||||
| Headquarters | Tegucigalpa,Honduras | ||||||
| Key people | Oswaldo López Arellano | ||||||
Servicio Aéreo de HondurasS.A. (IATA:SH, ICAO:SHA), otherwise known asSAHSA Airlines, was the nationalflag carrierairline ofHonduras from October 22, 1945, to January 14, 1994. The airline was a subsidiary ofPan American Airways and merged withTransportes Aéreos Nacionales (TAN) to formTAN-SAHSA in November 1991.
SAHSA was founded on January 2, 1945, with help fromPan American Airways under the nameServicio Aéreo de Honduras S.A. (SAHSA).Pan American Airways owned 40%, theHonduran government owned 40% and 20% was owned by private investors.
The airline began operations on October 22, 1945, using aDouglas DC-2 (XH-SAA) to fly to destinations withinHonduras. By October 1945, SAHSA had also acquired aDouglas DC-3 and aBeechcraft Model 18. In 1953, SAHSA acquired rival airlineTACA de Honduras, by which time SAHSA was operating the Douglas DC-2, Douglas DC-3, andCurtis C-46 Commando.
Equipment with modern pressurised airliners began in the mid-1960s with theConvair 340,Convair 440 andDouglas DC-6B being added to the fleet. The turbopropLockheed L-188 Electra joined the company in 1969.[1]
In 1970, Pan Am gave up its stake in SAHSA and TAN took over, but SAHSA continued to operate independently. TAN acquired the first jet airliner in Honduras, aBoeing 737-200, in 1974, and started international operations betweenMiami and Honduras. SAHSA acquired a Boeing 737-200 in October 1974 and later acquiredBoeing 727-200s. SAHSA began operations betweenCosta Rica,Nicaragua,Belize andNew Orleans.
The owner of TAN-SAHSA,Oswaldo López Arellano, was a two-term president of Honduras. To keep business in Honduras, no U.S. airlines were given permission fly to or from Honduras. Once Arellano was thrown out of power, several U.S. based airlines, such asEastern Airlines,Pan Am andAir Florida, were allowed to operate to and from Honduras.
SAHSA and TANmerged into TAN-SAHSA on 1 November 1991. It was based atToncontín International Airport inTegucigalpa and flew from Honduras to various destinations throughout Central and North and South America. The TAN-SAHSA name was used between 1990 and 1991 when the name TAN disappeared. The airline continued to operate as SAHSA until its demise in 1994. The collapse was partly due tocorruption and partly to the airline's poor safety record. The airline experienced several accidents during its operational life, including a major crash of a 727 in 1989 in Honduras, killing 131 of 146 passengers aboard, and a subsequent emergency landing incident on a Houston-bound 737 plane in 1993, after which the airline lost its FAA Air Operations Certificate and with it its operating privileges to the United States. No longer able to fly to the United States, financial pressures caused the airline to cease flight operations in late 1993 and it was disbanded in January 1994. Following the collapse of SAHSA, Honduras had no national airline until 2002, whenSol Air commenced operations.
SAHSA was initially established as a national airline to operate domestic flights with aircraft such as theDouglas DC-2 andDouglas DC-3. Initial routes were limited toTegucigalpa,San Pedro Sula,Puerto Cortés,La Ceiba,Marcala,Intibucá,Santa Rosa de Copán,Ocotepeque andSanta Bárbara.
The first U.S. route operated by SAHSA was to New Orleans in 1974 withLockheed L-188 Electra propjet service being flown on a daily route ofNew Orleans-Belize-San Pedro Sula-Tegucigalpa with continuing service three days a week being operated toSan Jose, Costa Rica by this Electra flight.[2]
Following the acquisition ofBoeing jet aircraft in the mid 1970s, the airline expanded its international routes. In addition to New Orleans, Belize, Guatemala City and San Jose, CR, new destinations includedHouston,Miami,Grand Cayman,Managua,Guatemala City,San Salvador,Panama,Colombia andPeru.
SAHSA's fleet consisted of the following aircraft:
| Aircraft | Total | Routes |
|---|---|---|
| Boeing 727-100 | 4 | short and medium haul |
| Boeing 727-200 | 2 | short and medium haul |
| Boeing 737-200 | 6 | short and medium haul |
| Boeing 737-400 | 2 | medium haul |
| CV-340 | 2 | short haul |
| CV-440 | 2 | short haul |
| CV-580 | 2 | short haul |
| Douglas DC-3 | 10 | short haul |
| Lockheed L-188 Electra | 4 | short and medium haul |
The airline also operated:
Sahsa Airlines was involved in several incidents and accidents, the most notable being:
