SAM (Spanish acronym: Sociedad Aeronáutica de Medellín) was a Colombian airline. The airline, with its main hub at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia, was operating domestic and international routes and was a subsidiary airline of Avianca. As of 2004 its headquarters was in the Avianca headquarters in Bogotá.

Completely surrounded by mountains, the city of Medellín has been a figurative island for most of its history. During the 40s a group of entrepreneurs began to promote the idea of providing the city with an air transportation system that would connect it with the rest of the country and the world. The axis Medellín-Puerto Berrío was sufficiently dynamic that the idea was discussed in entrepreneurial circles of both cities and in October 1945, at the 3rd Notary Public’s Office, a deed incorporating Sociedad Aeronáutica de Medellín S.A. was recorded.

Thanks to this entrepreneurial spirit Medellín became a city with an airline, although it was still on paper. It was in the minds of its first partners and promoters, the eventual founders: Luis Coulson, Gilberto Escobar, Julián Restrepo, Joaquín Londoño, and Gustavo Correa who, from the beginning of 1946 began to bring their dream to fruition. A corporation was created with 15,000 shares, at 10 pesos each. Subscription totalled Col.$150,000, of which Col.$50,000 was from 5,000 publicly purchased shares, and the remaining 10,000 shares purchased by the Board of Directors.

The promoters gained a valuable ally in the person of Captain Denis Powelson, expert in the aircraft world market, enthusiast, in love with the country and an explorer of its infinite possibilities. The Company had originally intended to acquire small aircraft, but the concept changed and grew: There would be long-range aircraft to secure the cargo market to and from Miami. The DC-3, type C-47 aircraft arrived in October 1946. SAM was no longer the dream of a few and became a community reality. The first aircraft of the airline departed from Las Playas Airport in Medellín heading to Miami in the midst of much celebration. It was the HK 500, piloted by Powelson himself with a three and a half ton cargo capacity.

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