Founded in 1933, in 1940 SACO merged with the Colombo-German Air Transport Company (Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transportes Aéreos, or SCADTA); the new company was named Avianca (Aerovías Nacionales de Colombia).

[1] Avianca still operates to this day, and claims SCADTA's history as its own, thus making it the second-oldest airline in the world.

On June 23, 1934, Ernesto Samper arrived in Bogotá with three Curtiss Kingbird and four American aviators hired to operate them.

With these aircraft, the SACO expanded its operations to other cities, Bucaramanga, Cartago, Montería and Cartagena.

[2] After the accident, the SACO airline stopped operating for some time, while it was reorganized and new aircraft were acquired.