Editing PLUNA (section)

=== Foundation ===
[[File:PLUNA737.jpg|right|thumb|A PLUNA advertisement from the 1970s.]]
The airline was established in September 1936, and started operations the following month, on 19 November 1936.<ref name="FI1966" /> It was set up by Jorge and Alberto Márquez Vaesa, two brothers who had obtained the necessary financial and technical support through the ambassador of the [[United Kingdom]] to [[Uruguay]] at the time, Sir [[Eugen Millington-Drake]]. Millington-Drake wrote in his memoirs that he suggested the airline be named using a memorable acronym, taking [[SABENA]] as an example. It was then decided on "PLUNA", an acronym for ''Primeras Líneas Uruguayas de Navegación Aérea'' ({{langx|en|First Uruguayan Air Navigation Lines}}). Millington-Drake knew De Havilland's representative in Buenos Aires at the time, which helped in the acquisition of the airline's first aircraft. The airline flew two five-seater [[de Havilland Dragonfly]]s from [[Montevideo]] to [[Salto, Uruguay|Salto]] and [[Paysandú]].<ref>[http://www.pluna.aero/english/historia.asp PLUNA's history] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928103418/http://www.pluna.aero/english/historia.asp |date=28 September 2007 }}</ref>{{When|date=August 2011}} The two planes were christened ''Churrinche'' and ''San Alberto'', the latter in honor of the brothers' father. PLUNA flew 2,600 passengers in their first fiscal year, a huge success for that era. It also flew 20,000 pieces of mail and 70,000 newspapers.{{Cn|date=June 2024}}

The [[Air carrier|carrier]] saw the incorporation of both the [[Potez 62]] and the [[Douglas DC-2]] into its fleet in the early 1940s, the latter acquired from the [[U.S. government]].<ref name="FI1966"/> Following the outbreak of [[World War II]], PLUNA was forced to suspend operations between 1942 and 1944, due to the lack of [[spare part]]s.<ref name="FI1966"/> The delicate position PLUNA was in at this time led the Uruguayan Government to aid the company by boosting its stake to 85% on 16 October 1944.<ref name="FI1966"/> The first [[Douglas DC-3]] entered PLUNA's fleet in February 1946.<ref name="FI1966"/> The airline launched regular services to [[Porto Alegre]], [[Brazil]], in May 1948.<ref name="FI1966"/> The carrier later added the cities of [[Santa Cruz, Bolivia|Santa Cruz]] in [[Bolivia]] and [[Buenos Aires]], [[Rosario]] and [[Córdoba, Argentina|Córdoba]] in [[Argentina]] to its network.{{When|date=August 2011}}