picture 195019

The lineage of the Transporte Aéreo Rioplatense can be traced back to 1957, when Transcontinental SA was founded, a company aiming to satisfy customers from the private sector, who demanded services not provided by the state-owned Aerolinas Argentinas. The Transcontinental operated this Curtiss C-46 Commando and two Bristol Britannias, but its story ended with bankruptcy in 1961: this traumatic experience drove one of its technicians, Edgardo Luzzi, and pilots Ernesto Wood and Emilio González Bonorino, into establishing a new air freighting enterprise. The new born company, Aerotransportes Entre Ríos, operated the old C-46 registered LV-FTO, saved from Transcontinental. (Artwork by Luca Canossa)