Editing Prinair (section)

== History ==
Service began in 1966 under the name '''Aerolíneas de Ponce''' (Ponce Airlines) with [[Aero Commander 500|Aero Commander]] aircraft.<ref>[http://www.prinair.org/History.html Prinair history page.] Retrieved: August 13, 2008.  {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004205518/http://www.prinair.org/History.html |date=October 4, 2011 }}</ref> The initial service flew from [[Mercedita Airport]] in [[Ponce, Puerto Rico|Ponce]] to [[Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport]] (then known as ''Isla Verde International Airport'') in [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]]. The company's name was changed to Prinair the following year ('''P'''uerto '''R'''ico '''In'''ternational '''Air'''lines).<ref>[http://www.aerosite.net/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=1329 Aerosite.net Prinair page.] Retrieved: August 13, 2008.</ref>
[[Image:DH.114 Heron Frtr N578PR Prinair OPA 24.03.87 edited-5.jpg|thumb|right|[[De Havilland Heron]] freighter of Prinair at [[Opa-locka Airport]] near Miami in 1987]]
The airline later used [[de Havilland Heron]] piston-engined aircraft for its services.  Prinair introduced their own version of the Heron by converting the aircraft to use 300&nbsp;hp Continental IO-520 engines in place of the original 250&nbsp;hp Gipsy Queen 30-2 engines.<ref>"The DH104 Dove and DH114 Heron" p.4, Air-Britain, 1973</ref>  The Prinair fleet which grew to over 20 aircraft was the largest Heron fleet in the world.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}} During the 1970s, expansion saw the airline start cargo freighter services to [[Opa-locka, Florida|Opa-locka]] (a Florida location near Miami) as well as passenger service to [[Santo Domingo]], the [[Virgin Islands]] (U.S. and British), Martinique, Barbados, [[San Felipe de Puerto Plata|Puerto Plata]], and other Caribbean destinations, as well as [[Vieques, Puerto Rico|Vieques]], [[Mayagüez, Puerto Rico|Mayagüez]], [[Culebra, Puerto Rico|Culebra]] and [[Aguadilla, Puerto Rico|Aguadilla]] on the domestic side.{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}

During 1978, [[Nicolas Nogueras]], a Puerto Rican politician, sought a [[Certiorari|writ of certiorari]] against Prinair at the [[United States Supreme Court]]; he was denied.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/435/951/|title=NOGUERAS v. PUERTO RICO INTERN. AIRLINES, INC., 435 U.S. 951 (1978)|website=Justia Law}}</ref>

In the early 1980s, Prinair introduced into service larger and more capable [[Convair CV-240|Convair 580]] turboprop aircraft. This provided the plane spotter at San Juan with another interesting aircraft type to look out for, but did little for the airline other than help increase the earnings from the Virgin Islands routes. Increased competition for these routes from [[Aero Virgin Islands]] and [[Oceanair]], in addition to a measure of distrust from the public that had not forgotten a number of fatal crashes, resulted in Prinair ceasing operations in 1985.<ref name="auto"/> It was the intention{{whose?|date=December 2019}} that Prinair would have been one of the launch customers of the [[CASA CN-235]] and at the roll-out of the new aircraft in September 1983 the prototype was actually painted in Prinair colors (right side only).{{confusing|section|date=December 2019}} However, the demise of Prinair prevented delivery.  The airline did operate an earlier CASA-manufactured aircraft, the [[C-212 Aviocar]] turboprop.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

In 2007, the airline resumed operations with [[Piper Chieftain]] propeller-driven aircraft;<ref>www,airliners.net, Photos of Prinair Piper Chieftain aircraft at San Juan (SJU)</ref> The airline again ceased all flights in 2010.

The company's Prinairtours announced that in 2019 Prinair would relaunch flights as a charter airline, starting with services between Aguadilla on Puerto Rico's northwest coast and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.<ref>[https://centreforaviation.com/data/profiles/airlines/prinair ''Prinair Profile.''] Center for Aviation. 2019. Accessed 9 December 2019.</ref>