The story
The airline was formed in 1947 by private investors to operate cargo flights by contract. In 1950, the company started scheduled passenger and cargo services. At March 1960 (1960-03), the fleet consisted of three C-46s serving a route network that was 1,180 miles (1,900 km) long. In 1967, TAN and LANICA agreed to operate LANICA's single BAC One-Eleven 400 jet on a joint basis; the joint operation of the aircraft started on 19 October 1967 (1967-10-19).
The airline acquired a Douglas DC-6A freighter aircraft in March 1973 and operated it until its sale in September 1979, using it particularly on their route to Miami.
In February 1970 (1970-02), TAN acquired Pan Am's 38% holding in SAHSA. According to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), TAN was operating a Convair 880 jet in 1972 on flights to Miami. An ex-Pluna Boeing 737-200 jet was incorporated into the fleet in May 1974 (1974-05). The aircraft was part of the fleet by March 1975 (1975-03), along with one DC-6B and two Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprops; at this time, the airline had 400 employees. According to the OAG, in 1980 TAN was serving Miami nonstop from Belize City and San Pedro Sula as well as operating direct flights to Miami from La Ceiba and Tegucigalpa primarily with the Boeing 737-200 with some passenger flights being operated with the Lockheed L-188 Electra.
In October 1989 (1989-10), the company experienced its worst accident when a Boeing 727-200 crashed on approach to Toncontín Airport, killing 131 occupants on board.
On 1 November 1991, TAN Airlines merged with SAHSA, adopting the latter name.
From Wikipedia’s article on Transportes Aéreos Nacionales, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4