LAN Airlines
LAN Airlines S.A. is a Chilean airline based in Santiago de Chile and based on the Santiago airport. It is one of South America's largest airlines and a member of the oneworld airline alliance. LAN is 2012 merged with Brazilian TAM Linhas Aéreas to the group LATAM Airlines Group.
History
First years as Línea Aeropostal Santiago - Arica
The Company was incorporated on March 5, 1929 in Santiago de Chile with the name Línea Aeropostal Santiago - on behalf of the Chilean president Carlos Ibáñez del Campo of Army Aviation ( Aviación Militar ) Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez founded Arica to Chile a passenger and mail transport in the air to install and use the Chilean airspace with its own Chilean airline. The new airline was operated by the Servicio Aéreo range of Army forces under the command of Arturo Merino Benítez, after the Santiago airport is named today.
The first route led in 1929 by Santiago de Chile on Ovalle, Copiapó, Antofagasta and Iquique to Arica. The first aircraft were of the type De Havilland DH60 Gipsy Moth. The new airline soon gained quite a lot of popularity and so could the first year already 762 passengers transported. In 1930, then the second flight route from Santiago de Chile Concepción, Chillán and Temuco, was opened to Puerto Montt and 5 AT-C type aircraft procured Ford with a capacity of 17 passengers. This use in the second year of existence for over 5000 passengers, the new airline.
1930s and 1940s as Línea Aérea Nacional
On July 21, 1932, the Chilean government passed Law No. 247, after the Línea Aeropostal Santiago - Arica was a public company with the name Línea Aérea Nacional, LAN Chile. In the following years procured LAN Chile new type aircraft Potez 56, Curtiss T -32 Condor II, Fairchild FC-2 and 1938 Junkers Ju 86 In 1936, LAN Chile took the aircraft factory of the company Curtiss Wright Export Company at Los Cerrillos Airport Santiago, Chile 's LAN then served as a maintenance base for many years. In 1941, Advanced LAN Chile to its fleet the twin-engine Lockheed Electra L -10A in order to intensify the liner service to Concepción and other cities. In 1943, then followed by the first machines of the type Lockheed Lodestar C-60, and first flew LAN Chile with this type on 7 October 1943 by Santiago to Antofagasta. In 1945, the route to Punta Arenas was added in Patagonia. Furthermore, short-haul flights from Punta Arenas to Porvenir on Tierra del Fuego, and later to Puerto Natales and Spring Hill ( Tierra del Fuego ). In 1946, LAN Chile received the Douglas DC -3 and opened its first international route to Buenos Aires in Argentina and later to Montevideo in Uruguay. Furthermore, the fleet was extended to 1950 by the twin-engine Martin 2-0-2 and the De Havilland DH104 Dove.
Development in the 1950s and 1960s
1953 new international flight routes to Lima in Peru, and La Paz in Bolivia, as well as national connections to Palena, Futaleufu, Chile Chico and Cochrane were opened.
1955 acquired LAN Chile for its fleet, the four-engine Douglas DC-6 with a capacity of 80 passengers, with which it was first possible to offer more routes as direct flights from Santiago to the north to Arica and Antofagasta and south to Punta Arenas. With this aircraft, it was also LAN Chile possible to perform the first airline in a commercial Flüg over Antarctica.
In August 1958, the first long- haul flight to Miami in the USA, with stops in Lima and Panama City. After the great earthquake in Chile in 1960, built to transport LAN Chile an air bridge in the south of Chile Hiflsgüter quickly in the affected areas.
In March 1964 LAN Chile got her first jet powered passenger aircraft with the Sud Aviation Caravelle VI -R. The April 3, 1967 presented with the first flight to Easter Island is a milestone of the Chilean aviation history, as the Chilean mainland by the Chilean islands in the South Pacific were joined for the first time. A year later they extended this route on Easter Island to Tahiti in French Polynesia. In April 1967 LAN Chile also received its first Boeing 707- 330B, with the scheduled service to New York was recorded. The Boeing 707 was bought by Deutsche Lufthansa. In August 1967 Advanced LAN Chile its fleet by Hawker Siddeley HS 748, the British in 1968 was added the Boeing 727, the international routes to Rio de Janeiro, Asuncion and Cali were opened with the 1969.
Development in the 1970s and 1980s
In 1970, we replaced the Douglas DC-6, which had previously served the Südpazifikroute to Tahiti with new Boeing 707 As part of this you also opened the first international connections to Europe with the objectives Madrid, Paris and Frankfurt am Main. Since LAN flies daily from Frankfurt to Santiago de Chile with a stopover in Madrid.
On February 10, 1974 LAN Chile reached another milestone in aviation history, as one for the first time from Punta Arenas in South America nonstop (Trans Polar Route ) flew to Sydney in Australia. In the early 1980s it renewed its fleet with Boeing 737-200 and McDonnell Douglas DC 10-30. In the context of economic reforms in the 80s in Chile, it was decided to privatize LAN Chile and thus the airline was first converted into a sociedad de responsabilidad limitada 30 December 1983 on 20 August 1985, in a sociedad anónima (SA).
In 1986, the old DC -10, which served the routes in the USA, were replaced by new Boeing 767 -200ER. In December 1988, a Boeing 747-100 leased LAN Chile, and opened a new route to Los Angeles. In September 1989, finally LAN Chile was finally privatized and sold 51% of the shares.
Development in the 1990s
In 1990, the company slipped into a serious crisis, so that their Boeing 707 fleet was seized and some aircraft to the Chilean Air Force and Fast Air Carrier SA were sold.
As a result, the company set up a large modernization process. On 31 May 1994, the shareholders voted for a capital of 20 million U.S. dollars to the company buy new, liquid assets may. This year, the operations of the airline began to increase again, the company was reorganized and adapted borrowings new and renegotiated leases for the aircraft. In the course of this development, LAN Chile procured the aircraft type BAe 146-200, with the then much of the Chilean domestic routes were operated. Also one signed in February 1994 a cooperation agreement with Air New Zealand to offer about Papeete on Tahiti connections to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific can. In the same year the line network was further compressed.
On 26 May 1994 LAN Chile took over the cargo airline Air and was almost completely privatized. On July 30, 1995, they opened the new route to La Serena and 7 August to Valdivia, which were immediately served daily. Also you procured the first Boeing 767 - 300ER aircraft for the fleet. In 1996 we opened the compounds to Asunción, Paraguay, and Guayaquil, Ecuador, again, who had been set in 1978. Also opened to get an access to the Caribbean with new tourist destinations, such as Mexico City and Cancun in Mexico and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. In 1997, LAN Chile took over most competitors Ladeco who operated exclusively innerchilenisch. The following year, LAN Chile merged the brands Ladeco and Fast Air and integrated them into the company as a LAN Express and LAN Cargo.
In September 1997, LAN Chile signed with American Airlines signed a cooperation agreement that is both a code-sharing agreement between the U.S. and Chile included as well as the opportunity for passengers to use the reciprocal frequent flyer programs LANPASS and AAdvantage. On 7 November 1997 LAN sold 48.25 million shares at a price of 1,172 CLP, which corresponded to 2.80 U.S. dollars per share. Of these, 35.75 million shares were sold in New York and 12.5 million shares in Chile. The staff bought LAN shares worth 4 million U.S. dollars. This LAN was the first Latin American airline that was traded on the NYSE.
By the end of 1997 the fleet consisted of 10 Boeing 767 - 300ERs, 14 Boeing 737 -200A, 1 Boeing 737- 200C and 5 DC -8F. This year, the company decided on a standardization of the fleet to cut costs in operation and maintenance. The cabins were unified and the Boeing 767 -300ER for long-distance and the Boeing 737-200 used for short trips. In the following two years, procured another 5 Boeing 767 -300ER.
4 Jun 1998 you missed the entire fleet a new design and overtook the deployment of the entire aircraft cabins. Was contrasted the company Davies & Baron from England, who had made a name with their designs, among others, British Airways, Australian Airlines and Air New Zealand. In addition, we introduced a new slogan a " El espíritu del sur del mundo ". This year it was decided for a change of strategy and procured 20 aircraft of the type Airbus A320 to replace its aging Boeing 737. Related decision was made for the purchase of seven Airbus A340-300s for long-haul flights and options for another 14 aircraft of this type. This allowed the airline to offer its passengers three classes, the aircraft with five First Class, 36 Business Class and 228 Economy Class seats were fitted.
On July 2, 1999 LAN Chile established its first international subsidiary, LAN Perú SA, with regional flights within of Peru, on 19 November, with international connections from Lima.
Recent history since 2000
In the first years of the new century founded LAN Chile more subsidiaries: LAN Ecuador, LAN Argentina and LAN Dominicana. Except for the latter two subsidiaries to domestic services today and meanwhile, also non-stop flights in the United States and Spain offer. A close cooperation with American Airlines LanChile paved the way in the Oneworld alliance, codeshare with LAN operates the Oneworld members American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia and Qantas Airways and beyond with Alaska Airlines, Mexicana and Aeroméxico.
On September 8, 2004 LAN Chile LAN Airlines renamed in order to clarify the surgery airline in several countries in a kind of composite (where the operating in Peru, Ecuador and Argentina daughters are owned by the Chilean mother as before, and no real partner group). The respective country name after the abbreviation dropped off there, and at the same time a new corporate identity was launched. Logo is a silver star on a blue background. The frequent flyer program is called " LanPass ".
On 6 May 2010 it was announced that LAN Airlines will build the Colombian airline AerOasis with. In October 2010 it was announced that LAN will also take over the Colombian AIRES and include this medium in the new merged LATAM. The plan, the airline AerOasis build was abandoned in favor of the establishment of LAN Colombia in 2011. LAN Colombia finally emerged from the Aires, founded in 1981.
On 13 August 2010 it was announced that LAN will merge with TAM Linhas Aéreas competitors. The new company trades then LATAM Airlines Group. Mid-December 2011 the Brazilian authorities agreed to the merger, after previously Chile gave the green light. The merger is expected to eventually take place in the first quarter of 2012.
The largest shareholders of the Company at 31 December 2010 were:
- 26.69 percent of Costa Verde Aeronautica S. A. ( Holding company of the Cueto family)
- 7.99 percent Axxion SA ( subsidiary of Chilean President Sebastián Piñera )
- 6.57 percent Inversiones Andes
- 4.24 percent Bank of New York Mellon
- 54.54 percent of other shareholders
Objectives
Homebase is the Arturo Merino Benitez ( Pudahuel ) Airport in Santiago de Chile ( SCL IATA Code, ICAO Code SCEL ). The clear focus of the network is on domestic flights or flights within South America, and between South America and the USA. Besides, other important destinations Lima, Miami and Madrid. The sole itself is overflown destination in Europe next to Madrid, Frankfurt am Main, which is connected via a stopover in Madrid with Santiago. Most flights from Santiago de Chile to Central and North America are now out on the Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chávez in Lima. Also the respective subsidiary airlines offer in the neighboring countries to domestic services.
Fleet
As of October 2013, the fleet of 130 aircraft from LAN Airlines is with an average age of 4.9 years:
Trivia
- As the only airline in the world leads LAN scheduled flights to Easter Island. The route leads from Santiago to Easter Island and then on to Tahiti.