MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

The spirit of Líneas Aéreas Paraguayas returning to the skies next year?

LAP was a symbol of Paraguay in the years of former President Alfredo Stroessner

A private group is determined to bring back to life the defunct Líneas Aéreas Paraguayas (LAP), which used to be the South American country's flag airline between the 1960s and 1990s, it was announced in Asunción.

Nella Airlines Group CEO Mauricio Souza and National Civil Aviation Directorate Chief Félix Kanazawa were quoted by Asunción's La Nación daily as saying that Nella would retain its private enterprise approach as well as give up the LAP brand but the colors of the former state-run carrier are to fly again soon.

“We will keep the (LAP name and refer to it as 'by Nella',” Kanazawa explained. “Taking into account that the Paraguayan line has not operated for a long time, ... we are showing that our country has an attractive economic indicator for investors,” he went on.

“We are going to equip 2 Boeing 737-800 aircraft with the original LAP colors, as it is a historic brand for Paraguay, and if we can identify the country to the world, it would be very gratifying for all of us,“ said Souza, who added the company planned to start regular flights by March 2022, always as Nella Airlines.

LAP by Nella is expected to serve Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina, but further details will be made available once the contracts are signed, it was announced.

According to aviation press reports, Nella also intends to open up a maintenance workshop for its own aircraft as well as for third parties interested in the service.

Nella's plans mean around 400 new jobs for pilots, technicians, engineers and other specialists in the aviation industry.

Nella has already bought over Venezuela's Albatros airline in July 2021. “We began to operate in a market that moved around 4 million passengers a year before the pandemic and that until June 2021 has recovered 78% of this demand,” the group said in a statement.