Editing Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano (section)

==History==
===Origins ===
[[File:Stamp of Bolivia - 1945 - Colnect 228290 - Map of Bolivian Air Lines.jpeg|left|thumb|133x133px|A [[postage stamp]] from 1945 featuring a map of Bolivia and LAB's domestic flights.]]
Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano (LAB) was founded by [[Germany|German]] immigrants in August 1925.<ref name="FI1966" />{{#tag:ref|There exists a discrepancy over the foundation date of the airline as it was also informed it occurred on 14 September 1925.<ref name="Flight1960" />|name="Found date"|group="nb"}}  On 24 September 1925, the airline launched its services between [[Cochabamba]] and [[Santa Cruz de la Sierra|Santa Cruz]] using a single [[Junkers F13]] aircraft.<ref name="FI1966">{{cite journal|title= World airline survey – Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano SA (LAB)|journal= [[Flight International]]|number= 2979|volume= 89|date= 14 April 1966|page= 621|url= https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1966/1966%20-%201070.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190525125247/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1966/1966%20-%201070.html|archive-date= 25 May 2019}}</ref>

In July 1930, Lloyd Aéreo began to serve international routes, with scheduled flights between [[La Paz]], where it was based then, and [[Corumbá]], [[Brazil]]. On the grounds of a co-operation agreement with [[Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul|Syndicato Condor]], an airline catering for the [[German Brazilian|German minority in Brazil]], LAB passengers could connect in Corumbá on a flight to [[Rio de Janeiro]], and vice versa. Over the following years, more destinations in [[Brazil]] were added, so that Lloyd Aéreo became the second largest airline in South America at that time, only surpassed by [[Avianca]] from [[Colombia]]. In 1932, the Bolivian government seized all of LAB's planes and staff, so that they could be dispatched for military use during the [[Chaco War]] with [[Paraguay]].

===Bolivian national airline===
[[File:Boeing 727-171C, Lloyd Aereo Boliviano - LAB AN0309730.jpg|thumb|A LAB [[Boeing 727-100]] at [[Rio de Janeiro/Galeão International Airport]] in 1984.]]
In May 1941, LAB was taken over by the government of Bolivia as the country's [[national airline]] and [[Pan American-Grace Airways|Panagra]] was granted a contract to administer it. In March 1960, Panagra held a 20% interest in LAB and the government of Bolivia was the major shareholder. At this time, Edmundo Gonzalez was the president of the airline and the fleet consisted of seven [[DC-3]]s, one [[DC-4]] and six [[Boeing B-17]]s.<ref name="Flight1960" /> With the [[Lockheed L-188 Electra]] joining the fleet in September 1968,<ref>Davies, R.E.G., ''Airlines of Latin America since 1919'', London 1984, p. 329</ref> LAB was in the position to offer non-stop international flights. A further improvement in comfort and travel times was achieved when Lloyd Aéreo acquired its [[jet age|first jet aircraft]] (of the [[Boeing 727]] type) in 1970, allowing for the inauguration of flights to Central America and the United States.<ref>Davies (1984), p. 330</ref>

At March 1990, the airline had 1,700 employees and was 99.98% owned by the government. By this time the network, which consisted of 21 domestic destinations and 15 international ones (Arica, Asunción, Belo Horizonte, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Cuzco, Lima, Manaus, Miami, Montevideo, Panama, Rio de Janeiro, Salta, Santiago and São Paulo), was served with two [[Boeing 707-320C]], three [[Boeing 727-200]]s, two [[Boeing 727-100]]s, one [[Fokker F27-600]] and one [[Fokker F27-200]].<ref>{{cite journal|title= World airline directory – Lloyd Aero{{sic|nolink=y}} Boliviano (LAB)|journal= [[Flight International]]|number= 4207|volume= 137|date= 14–20 March 1990|page= 105|url= https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1990/1990%20-%200757.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190910204154/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1990/1990%20-%200757.html|archive-date= 10 September 2019|url-status= live}}</ref>

===Financial difficulties and demise===
[[File:LAB Boeing 737-300 Volpati.jpg|thumb|A LAB [[Boeing 737 Classic|Boeing 737-300]] featuring a [[List of airline liveries and logos|livery]] borrowed from its main stakeholder, [[VASP]] at the time the airline was privatized in 1995.]]
From 1994 onwards, Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano was encountering rising financial difficulties. As a consequence, the Bolivian government prepared the [[privatization]] of the airline and began to negotiate with potential buyers. On 19 October 1995, Brazilian airline [[VASP]] acquired 50 percent of the LAB shares.  In an effort to cut costs, VASP aimed at a full merger of the two airlines, with a similar livery and a joint [[frequent flyer program]] as initial steps. {{asof|1998|7|alt= At July 1998}}, 49% and 48.3% of the shares were held by VASP and the Bolivian government, respectively.<ref name="Airline Ownership Survey" /> In 2001, VASP sold its shares in LAB back to Bolivian investors, though, due to the ongoing monetary constraints. On the other hand, in 2004, LAB was awarded shares in [[Ecuatoriana de Aviación]], the national airline of [[Ecuador]] at that time, as a compensation for outstanding debts, which led to a [[codeshare agreement]] between the two airlines.

From 2006, Lloyd Aéreo had to cut flights because it was in bad financial shape; [[aircraft lease|leased]] long-haul aircraft (a random mix of [[Airbus A310]], [[Boeing 757]], [[Boeing 767]] or [[Lockheed L-1011 TriStar]] at that time) could not be paid for anymore. On 30 March 2007, it was decided by the Bolivian government to shut down Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano, which meant that effective on 1 April, all flight operations were suspended. In October of the same year, [[Boliviana de Aviación]] was established as new national airline of Bolivia. LAB operated a limited number of charter flights during late 2007 and early 2008, on behalf of [[AeroSur (Bolivia)|AeroSur]], but has since fully gone out of business, with its [[Air Operator's Certificate|airline license]] officially been revoked in 2010.{{cn|date=June 2024}}