CX-AQO Vickers
769 Viscount (c/n 322)
Originally a
private company, PLUNA received government subsidies before
the war. However,
a change of government in 1943 saw the end of
these subsidies and services
were suspended until
after WW II (1945). Since then he government
gradually increased
its holding so that by 1951
it was a
totally nationalized
enterprise. In 1958, to replace its DC-3s, PLUNA ordered three
Viscounts new
from Vickers. The above shot of the second one was taken in
the UK before
delivery,
and is courtesy of the Jennifer Gradidge
collection By the 1990s, financial
difficulties
saw the airline become almost a
subsidiary of Varig, albeit still flying under the PLUNA
name,
although
by 2006 the
Uruguayan Government had repurchased 98% of the stock.
.