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Founded | 1945 | ||||||
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Ceased operations | 1994 | ||||||
Hubs | Toncontín International Airport | ||||||
Secondary hubs | Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport | ||||||
Focus cities | Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, Managua, New Orleans | ||||||
Alliance | Tan-Sahsa | ||||||
Fleet size | 45 | ||||||
Destinations | 40 destinations: Central America, North America, South America & the Caribbean | ||||||
Company slogan | "The International Airline of Honduras" | ||||||
Parent company | Pan American Airways | ||||||
Headquarters | Tegucigalpa, Honduras | ||||||
Key people | Oswaldo López Arellano |
Servicio Aéreo de Honduras S.A. (IATA: SH, ICAO: SHA) otherwise known as SAHSA Airlines was the national flag carrier airline of Honduras from October 22, 1945, to January 14, 1994. The airline was a subsidiary of Pan American Airways and merged with Transportes Aéreos Nacionales (TAN) to form TAN-SAHSA in the late 1980s.
SAHSA was founded on January 2, 1945, with help from Pan American Airways under the name Servicio Aéreo de Honduras S.A. (SAHSA). Pan American Airways owned 40%, the Honduran government owned 40% and 20% was owned by private investors.
The airline began operations on October 22, 1945, using a Douglas DC-2 (XH-SAA) to fly to destinations within Honduras. By October 1945, SAHSA had also acquired a Douglas DC-3 and a Beechcraft Model 18. In 1953, SAHSA acquired rival airline TACA de Honduras, by which time SAHSA was operating the Douglas DC-2, Douglas DC-3 and Curtis C-46 Commando.
Equipment with modern pressurised airliners began in the mid-1960s with the Convair 340, Convair 440 and Douglas DC-6B being added to the fleet. The turboprop Lockheed L-188 Electra joined the company in 1969.