LaMia

Bolivian airline LaMia originated in the failed Venezuelan airline of the same name, which was founded as LAMIA, C.A. in 2009 by Spanish businessman Ricardo Albacete.[2] The name chosen, styled as LaMia, was the acronym of Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación. It took delivery of an ATR 72 wet leased from Swiftair and intended to begin service out of Mérida, Venezuela, its original base.[3] However, the company failed to secure its own air operator's certificate and folded in October 2010 after only operating since August, with Swiftair taking back the aircraft.[4] After its permits expired, LaMia attempted a relaunch in 2011 by taking a single Avro RJ85 and focusing on domestic flights, although none operated from Mérida.[5] Having had its efforts in Mérida thwarted twice, the airline moved to the state of Nueva Esparta: the airline changed the M in its name to mean Margarita and planned to relaunch in early 2014 operating out of Porlamar.[6] A November 2013 demonstration flight featured the state's governor, Carlos Mata Figueroa, and Albacete gave a speech praising Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro; this incarnation also fell through amidst the country's worsening economic crisis.[7] In 2014, LaMia even placed its planes in Trujillo, Trujillo, apparently with the intent of operating flights from Valera to Caracas, but these efforts never got off the ground; the airline failed to receive certification from the National Institute of Civil Aviation (INAC), and the planes were only in Venezuela for a year.[8]

With their repeated failures in two Venezuelan states,[9] the Venezuelan owners opted to lease the three RJ85s they had to Bolivian entrepreneurs; in a cost-cutting move, the Bolivian company adopted the name already painted on the aircraft: LaMia.[2] The two aircraft not in service at the time of the crash still bore the Venezuelan airline's website, lamia.com.ve, on their sides.[10] In November 2015, Bolivian airline LaMia—a legally distinct company incorporated as LAMIA Corporation SRL—set up offices in a house in Santa Cruz de la Sierra,[11] and received permission from its national civil aviation authority to begin offering domestic charter flights there; such operations began in January 2016 under the new company's "indefinite" operating certificate.[12][13] Its fleet included three RJ85 aircraft with capacity for 95 passengers, though two never flew and the airline never offered commercial service.[2] At the time, operations coordinator Mario Pacheco said that resource extraction and mining companies, travel agencies and soccer teams were among their target clients.[12] Indeed, soccer teams were among the most faithful clients, and the airline had flown the Argentina, Bolivia and Venezuela national teams as well as the Colombian Atlético Nacional, the Paraguayan Club Olimpia and local sides Oriente Petrolero, The Strongest and Club Blooming.[2][7][11] Additionally, the Bolivian Ministry of Mining and Metallurgy was a client of the airline.[14]

In the aftermath of the crash of Flight 2933, DGAC, Bolivia's aviation authority, suspended LaMia's operating license,[15] and the Bolivian Labor Ministry stated that LaMia was not a registered business with the government.[16] Bolivian law requires all employers to be registered with the Labor Ministry, which maintains the Obligatory Registry of Businesses.[16]

On the night of 28 November 2016 at approximately 10:33 pm (Bogotá time), LaMia Flight 2933, which carried 77 passengers mostly composed of Brazilian football squad Chapecoense, departed Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia) heading towards Medellín (Colombia) when the aircraft crashed in the countryside just outside La Unión in Antioquía department. Out of the 77 passengers, 71 were officially confirmed dead. Miguel Quiroga, one of the flight crew of the downed aircraft, was also a part owner of the airline.[11] The crash exposed gaps in safety at the airline. LaMia did not meet IATA regulations that would have permitted it to handle the aftermath of the crash; instead, the airline had to borrow 100 coffins, requiring Avianca, the Colombian flag carrier, and the Colombian and Brazilian governments to step in and pick up the slack.[24] The Bolivian government proceeded to suspend LaMia's license on 1 December.[25]