CX-AQO  Vickers 769 Viscount         (c/n  322)

                                    

                                      Primeras Lineas Uruguayas de Navegacion Aerea (roughly translated - the First Airline of Uruguay)
                                      was founded in 1935 by a group of Uruguayan financiers led by importers Alberto and Jorge Marquez
                                      Vaeza and backed by some British investors.  Its first service was flown on 20 November 1936 on a
                                      route from Montevideo to the far north of the country on the Brazilian frontier, terminating at Artigas
                                      and Rivera.  Two D.H.90 Dragonflies were used.  Originally a private company, it 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.
                .