A celebration this morning at Kennedy Airport as Avianca celebrates
its 100th birthday. The Colombian national carrier began flying on
December 5th, 1919, and becomes only the second airline in the world to
record a hundred years of continuous operation. KLM was the first,
hitting the century mark back on October 7th of this year (see post
further down).

Avianca was initially established as a joint German-Colombian venture
under the name SCADTA (Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transportes Aéreos).
The Avianca name (Aerovías Nacionales de Colombia) was adopted in 1940.