Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano

Before Lufthansa even existed, an airline with German roots was already flying in the Bolivian Andes: Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano, or LAB for short. Founded in 1925 by the German community in Cochabamba, it started with a single Junkers F 13 and became Bolivia’s flag carrier. More than 80 years later it was over – after partial privatization, debt and strikes. Here you can read how LAB came about, which aircraft it flew, why it failed and how to recognize it in old photos.

LAB at a glance

Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano was Bolivia’s national airline, headquartered in Cochabamba. Besides Jorge Wilstermann Airport (CBB) in Cochabamba, Santa Cruz – first El Trompillo, from 1990 Viru Viru (VVI) – and La Paz-El Alto (LPB) played a central role in the network. In South America, LAB was among the oldest airlines of all; only Colombia’s Avianca is older in the region.

The story can be divided into four phases: the German pioneer era with Junkers aircraft, the nationalization in 1941, the long era as a state-owned flag carrier with Boeing jets – and from 1995 the partial privatization, which ended in a financial crisis.

Codes and registrations

• IATA code LB: appeared in front of the flight numbers on tickets and departure boards.
• ICAO code LLB: the identifier in the flight plan filed with air traffic control.
• Registration CP-: LAB aircraft registered in Bolivia carried this prefix from the 1950s onward, followed by a number – such as CP-861 for the first Boeing 727. In the decades before that, Bolivian aircraft were still registered with CB-.

For the radio callsign, the reference works contradict each other, so we leave it out here. For your archive, the same applies as for any historic airline: codes are reassigned after a company ends. Always note the airline name, registration and year with old photos. How IATA and ICAO codes relate is explained in the article on IATA and ICAO codes, and how registrations are structured in the guide Understanding aircraft registrations.

History: from the Junkers F 13 to flag carrier

German founders and “El Oriente” (1925–1931)

In the 1920s Bolivia was a country with hardly any transport links between the highlands and the lowlands. The overland journey from Cochabamba to tropical Santa Cruz was long and arduous. Members of the German community in Cochabamba – the sources mention Guillermo Kyllmann (also spelled Killman), among others – saw an opportunity in that. They bought a demonstration aircraft from the Junkers sales organization in South America: a Junkers F 13, the world’s first all-metal airliner.

The aircraft was named “El Oriente” – after the Bolivian east, which it was meant to open up. Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano was founded in September 1925, and service between Cochabamba and Santa Cruz began that same year. The sources give differing dates for the exact first scheduled flight.

With a stake from the Bolivian state, more F 13s soon followed, and later the larger Junkers W 33 and W 34; Junkers itself took a financial stake. In 1930 LAB launched its first international route: from La Paz to Corumbá in Brazil. There the Syndicato Condor, an offshoot of Deutsche Luft Hansa, carried mail and passengers on to Rio de Janeiro. A German network across half of South America – that was not unusual at the time.

War, Ju 52 and nationalization (1932–1945)

In 1932 the first multi-engine aircraft arrived: a Ford Trimotor, which was lost after a few months, and a Junkers Ju 52/3m. That same year the Chaco War against Paraguay began. The government drew on LAB’s aircraft and staff for transport flights to the front. In 1935 the state handed two more Ju 52s to LAB and received a 48 percent stake in return. In 1936 the fleet consisted of eleven aircraft, including three Ju 52s – you can read more about “Tante Ju” in the article Junkers Ju 52.

World War II ended the German phase. In May 1941 the state took the majority of the financially troubled LAB, and the German employees had to leave. The US airline Panagra received a contract to manage the company. The Junkers aircraft were replaced by US types: the Lockheed Lodestar from 1941 and the Douglas DC-3 from 1945.

The state airline grows (1946–1994)

After the war LAB expanded its network considerably. Bolivia is a country of extreme altitudes: El Alto near La Paz is among the highest commercial airports in the world. Thin air lengthens takeoff runs and costs payload – the choice of types always had to take that into account.

The DC-3 was followed by the Curtiss C-46, the Douglas DC-4 from 1955 and the Douglas DC-6 from 1960. At times even Boeing B-17s flew for LAB. The turboprop era began in 1968 with the Lockheed L-188 Electra and in 1969 with the Fairchild F-27. In the 1960s the network grew to Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru.

The big step came in 1970 with the first Boeing 727-100, registered CP-861. The 727 was made for Bolivia: it coped well with high-altitude runways and stayed in service until 2008 – almost 40 years. In the 1970s LAB started scheduled service to Miami, and from 1977 it also flew the Boeing 707. In 1990 the almost entirely state-owned airline employed around 1,700 people and, according to Aviacionline, served 21 domestic and 15 international destinations.

VASP, Asbún and the decline (1995–2010)

In the late 1980s Bolivia began to partially privatize state-owned companies – called “capitalization” there. In 1995 Brazil’s VASP took about half of LAB’s shares and the operational management. The aircraft received a color scheme modeled on VASP. The expectations were not met: according to the German-language Wikipedia, VASP drained capital over the years, and LAB was pushed to the brink of ruin.

In late 2001 VASP’s stake went, under political pressure, to Bolivian investors around the entrepreneur Ernesto Asbún. New partnerships – such as with Ecuatoriana de Aviación from 2004 and flights to Quito, Guayaquil and Mexico – brought no turnaround. In February 2006 the pilots went on strike over months of unpaid salaries. Lessors took back 727s and 767s, and LAB was thrown out of the IATA clearing system. A restructuring plan that the government drew up in 2006 with Lufthansa Consulting came to nothing – a small irony, considering the German beginnings.

On March 30, 2007, the government decided to give up on LAB. In October 2007 a new state airline, Boliviana de Aviación, was created. LAB flew only individual charter flights until early 2008, including for AeroSur. On February 1, 2008, a 727-200 on Flight 301 had to make an emergency landing near Trinidad due to fuel shortage; everyone on board survived, but the aircraft was a total loss. According to the German-language Wikipedia, the license was revoked in 2010.

The fleet over time

Era	Key types	Spotter note
Pioneer era (1925–1941)	Junkers F 13, W 33, W 34, Ju 52/3m, Ford Trimotor	Corrugated-metal look of the Junkers types, now only in museums and black-and-white photos
Piston engines (1941–1973)	Lockheed Lodestar, Douglas DC-3, Curtiss C-46, DC-4, DC-6, Boeing B-17	DC-6 in service until 1973
Turboprops (1968–2004)	Lockheed L-188 Electra, Fairchild F-27, Fokker F27 Friendship	F27 on the domestic network until 2004
Jets (1970–2008)	Boeing 727-100 and -200, 707, 737-300	727 the backbone of the fleet for almost 40 years
Widebody (1989–2006)	Boeing 767-200, Airbus A300, A310, 767-300ER, Lockheed L-1011 TriStar	A310 from 1991 to 2004, TriStar only in 2006

The Boeing 727-200 was the face of LAB. Some late examples received winglets – an unusual sight on a 727. How to tell such wingtips apart is explained in Winglets, sharklets and more. On long-haul routes LAB flew the Airbus A310 for a long time, later the Boeing 767-300ER. From 1996 the Boeing 737-300 supplemented the 727 on the regional network, and from 2004 to 2006 the Boeing 757-200 was added.

Many late widebodies were leased and changed hands several times. How that works is covered in the article Aircraft leasing explained.

Routes: from Corumbá to Madrid

For decades the network mirrored Bolivia’s geography. Domestically, LAB connected the highlands around La Paz, Oruro and Potosí with the valleys of Cochabamba and Sucre and the lowlands around Santa Cruz and Trinidad. With no coast and difficult roads, the airplane was the most important means of transport for many places.

Internationally, progress came step by step:

• 1930: La Paz–Corumbá in Brazil, with a connection to Rio de Janeiro
• 1960s: Buenos Aires, Salta, São Paulo, Arica and Lima
• 1970s: Miami as the first destination in the US, plus Panama, Paraguay and Chile
• 1980s: including Montevideo, Caracas and Manaus
• 2000s: Madrid as a transatlantic route, plus Washington, Mexico City, Cancún, Bogotá, Havana, Quito and Guayaquil

At Miami Airport LAB was a familiar visitor for decades, at Madrid-Barajas only in the last few years. On some routes LAB worked with partners through codeshares – how that works is explained in Codeshare flights explained.

Accidents and incidents

Flying in Bolivia was dangerous for decades: high mountains, changeable weather and airports at great altitude. According to the German-language Wikipedia, LAB lost 32 aircraft since 1945, and 15 of these accidents killed a total of 359 people. Some events left a particular mark on the country:

• 1960: A DC-4 on the way from Cochabamba to La Paz crashes into a mountain lake shortly after takeoff following an engine fire; nobody on board survives.
• 1969: A DC-6 hits Mount Choquetanga. The 74 dead include numerous players of the football club The Strongest from La Paz.
• 1976: A leased Boeing 707 on a cargo flight crashes onto a sports field on takeoff in Santa Cruz. Besides the three-person crew, 88 people on the ground die.
• 2008: Emergency landing of a 727-200 near Trinidad due to fuel shortage, with no fatalities.

How to recognize LAB in archive photos

Since LAB no longer flies, you mostly encounter its aircraft in photo archives and databases. This helps with identifying them:

Leased aircraft and changes of ownership often produce mixed liveries. How to classify them is shown in the guide to hybrid liveries. For photos from the pioneer era, Recognizing vintage aircraft helps, and for the piston-engine years, the history of the Douglas DC-3.

Spotting LAB today?

You can gauge how rare such a find is with the article How rare is my sighting?. And if you want to follow South American aviation history further, Varig, Panair do Brasil, PLUNA and Aero Continente are more historic airlines from the region.

Common mix-ups

• Equating LAB and Boliviana de Aviación – BoA is a state airline newly founded in 2007, not a continuation of LAB.
• Mistaking LAB jets for VASP – from 1995 the color schemes resembled each other; the CP- registration decides.
• Linking “Lloyd” with Norddeutscher Lloyd or Aero Lloyd – LAB was an independent Bolivian company; a connection to those firms is not documented.
• Seeing LAB as a Lufthansa subsidiary – German founders and the Syndicato Condor as a connecting partner, yes, but no Lufthansa group stake.
• Confusing the 727-100 and 727-200 – the -200 has a much longer fuselage.
• Still assigning LB to LAB today – IATA codes are reassigned after an airline ends.

Conclusion

Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano is a piece of aviation history with a surprisingly German beginning: a Junkers F 13 in Cochabamba, a connection to the Syndicato Condor, Ju 52s in the Chaco War. After that, state ownership, the Boeing 727 and the leap to Miami and Madrid shaped the picture – until partial privatization and debt brought the airline down after more than 80 years. For spotters, LAB remains an archive topic, but a rewarding one.