Aeroposta

Around 1929 Aeroposta was started as an airmail service in Argentina by the well-known French aviators Jean Mermoz and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. In those early days commercial aviation depended on the personal efforts of individuals, and these two pilots, obsessed with all things aeronautical were responsible for buying the gasoline and fuelling their aircraft - itself not an easy task.

In 1929, regular flights to Posadas and later to Mendoza were started. The following year the service expanded to include Comodoro Rivadavia and San Antonio Oeste, closely followed by Río Gallegos. This saw the creation of LASO (Línea Aérea Sud Oeste) and LANE (Línea Aérea Nordeste), which became LADE (Líneas Aéreas del Estado) in 1945.

Another local airline in operation at that time was ALFA (Aviación Litoral Federal Argentino) and it was this airline that took delivery of the first DC3s into the country. In 1946, ALFA and LADE merged to become FAMA (Flota Aérea Mercante Argentina) which was to be the first Argentine airline to fly intercontinental. Competition in the international market was intense and so, in due course, the Argentine flag carrier Aerolíneas Argentinas was created.