The type was first flown in '55. The Azor was developed for the airlines and was intended for use by Iberia's national routes. It was a quite capable a/c but lacked performance and capacity compared to US and European designs. So it was surpassed by the Fokker 27 and the Convair 440. As the Spanish AF was desperate to replace their aging fleet of CASA 352s, the Azor was available and fit the air force specifications. They ordered eventually 22 aircraft, with deliveries between '60-'67. It was replaced by the C212 in the late 80s. The picture shows one of the final two operational two C207s.