Editing Avianca (section)

===SCADTA (1919–1940)===
{{Main|SCADTA}}
[[File:SCADTA Junkers W 34 "Magdalena".jpg|thumb|left|A SCADTA [[Junkers W 34]] "Magdalena", circa 1920s]]

The airline traces its history back to December 5, 1919, in the city of [[Barranquilla]], Colombia. Colombians Ernesto Cortissoz Alvarez-Correa (the first President of the airline), Rafael María Palacio, Cristóbal Restrepo, Jacobo Correa and Aristides Noguera and [[German people|Germans]] Werner Kämmerer, Stuart Hosie and Albert Tietjen founded the Colombo-German Company, called ''Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transportes Aéreos'' or '''SCADTA'''. The company accomplished its first flight on September 5, 1920, between Barranquilla and the nearby town of [[Puerto Colombia]] using a [[Junkers F.13]], transporting 57 pieces of mail. The flight was piloted by German Helmuth von Krohn. This and another aircraft of the same type were completely mechanically constructed [[monoplane]]s, the engines of which had to be modified to efficiently operate in the climate of the country. There were nine aircraft in the fleet with a total range of {{convert|850|km|0|abbr=on}} which could carry up to four passengers and two crewmen. Due to the topographic characteristics of the country and the lack of airports at the time, floats were adapted for two of the [[Junkers]] aircraft to make [[water landing]]s in the rivers near different towns. Using these floats, Helmuth von Krohn was able to perform the first inland flight over Colombia on October 20, 1920, following the course of the [[Magdalena River]]; the flight took eight hours and required four emergency landings in the water.

Soon after the airline was founded, German scientist and [[philanthropy|philanthropist]] Peter von Bauer became interested in the airline and contributed general knowledge, [[Financial capital|capital]] and a tenth aircraft for the company, as well as obtaining [[concession (contract)|concessions]] from the Colombian government to operate the country's [[airmail]] transportation division using the airline, which began in 1922. This new contract allowed SCADTA to thrive in a new frontier of aviation. By the mid-1920s, SCADTA started its first international routes covering destinations in Venezuela and the United States. In 1924, the aircraft that both Ernesto Cortissoz and Helmuth von Krohn were flying crashed into an area currently known as Bocas de Ceniza in Barranquilla, killing them. In the early 1940s, Peter von Bauer sold his shares in the airline to the US-owned [[Pan Am]].