Air Aruba was the official air carrier from the island of Aruba. The history of Air Aruba began in September 1986, initially as a ground handling agent for almost all airlines in Aruba. Two years after its inception on August 18, Air Aruba with the assistance of KLM and Air Holland, made its first commercial flight with YS-11 turbo-prop type aircraft and continued operations between the islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. Other Air Aruba destinations included Caracas and Venezuela.

Over the years Air Aruba extended its scheduled flights to various cities such as Santa Domingo and St. Maarten in the Caribbean; Newark and Miami in North America; and Sao Paolo, Maracaibo and Las Piedras in South America. Air Aruba ventured further with flight services across the Atlantic to Amsterdam in Holland and Cologne in Germany. This flight was initially operated together with Air Holland but was later taken over completely by Air Aruba. The airline subsequently upgraded its aviation standards by shifting from its turbo-prop type aircraft to jet-type aircrafts which included the Boeing 727, 737, 757 and 767.

Even at ground level Air Aruba extended its services by forming a new ground handling company as a subsidiary in joint ownership with Ogden Aviation Services. Air Aruba also expanded its reservations office in North America to cope with the demand. The committed staff of Air Aruba was reputed for their excellence in hospitality and service. Air Aruba prided itself for their quality of customer service offered on its flights.

Air Aruba hospitality was a basic tradition of the people of Aruba, which the airline strove to bring into the airline industry. However financial problems made the Government seek for a new owner to take over Air Aruba. On October 27, 1998, Air Aruba secured a takeover by the Venezuelan airline Aserca, who then became the majority shareholder of Air Aruba. In December 1998, Air Aruba leased two brand new MD-90s expanding the total fleet to 5 aircrafts. At the same time, Air Aruba also inaugurated the route to Philadelphia and re-opened the route to Baltimore bringing the total number of destinations to 10.

In the highly competitive airline industry it is important to have stable partnerships with other respected international airlines. Air Aruba had done so by developing fruitful partnerships amongst others with Continental Airlines and KLM. In March 1999, Air Aruba had established an agreement with Aserca Airlines and Air ALM to provide better service in the Caribbean and South America for both its customers and its employees. The rising cost of operations and bad management caused Air Aruba to file for bankruptcy in 2000.