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Febrero 09, 2006
Who Owns Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano?
A commenter wondered who owns the Bolivian airline LAB.
According to Wikipedia:
In 1994, Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano descended into a deep economic crisis and the government searched for potential buyers. Under those circumstances, on October 19, 1995, the Brasilian company VASP acquired 50% of the company. VASP changed the colors of the planes in accordance to their colors and introduced a frequent flyer program.
The other 50% theoretically belong to the Bolivian people.
From the LAB website:
In December 2001, a group of Bolivians headed by Ing. Ernesto R. Asbún, acquire the shares from VASP and LAB returns to the ownernship of Bolivian nationals..
The company VASP was embroiled in a massive fraud and mismanagement, resulting in the sale of the shares to Sr. Asbún, who now is heavily in debt. According to this article, LAB owes 16 million dollars to health insurance and 8 million dollars to the pension fund. In addition, he owes back pay to hundreds of workers. Some of the striking pilots asked for shares be transferred to workers to cover some of the debt owed. This mess is not what the politicians had in mind when the grand capitalization process was launched.
Update 11:00 PM EST: Via a Presidential decree, the Bolivian government announced a preventative intervention of the airline for 90 days, thus guaranteeing the operation of the national airline.
Posted by eduardo at Febrero 9, 2006 07:35 PM
Comments
Thanks. I was passing by the LAB desk in Miami's airport last week and wondered about it. Now, thanks to your blog, I've had my questions answered without even trying.
Posted by: boz at Febrero 10, 2006 11:45 AM
I'd like to know if it is once more safe to assume that LAB is not going under, that it will continue flying, that for example buying tickets from them is not "risky"?
Posted by: susana sandoz at Junio 16, 2006 11:31 AM
It's a nightmare, they asked $200 for GAS!!! (Bolivia - PTY) for each passenger (with they ticket already paid) "if not the plane couldn’t fly", and a “don’t tell anyone” as invoice (receipt)
Posted by: Alexis Rios at Julio 28, 2006 01:03 AM