Today in Transportation History – March 29, 2009: A National Airline for Bolivia Begins Operations

Boliviana de Aviación (BoA), which serves as the national airline of Bolivia and is entirely owned by the South American country’s government, formally began operations with its first commercial flight. This flight was made by a Boeing 737 airliner traveling between the cities of La Paz (the capital) and Cochabamba. Evo Morales, Bolivia’s president since 2006, was among those on board for this inaugural trip.

BoA was established to replace Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano, which had ceased operations in 2008 after more than eight decades of service, as Bolivia’s national airline. BoA became Bolivia’s only major airline after the privately owned Compañía Boliviana de Transporte Aéreo Privado Aerosur shut down its operations in 2012. In 2014, BoA was inducted as a full-fledged member of the International Air Transport Association.