(formerly '''Lan Chile S.A.''') is an
Airline based in
Santiago, Chile . It is the principal Chilean airline with flights to
Latin America ,
North America , the
Caribbean ,
Oceania , and
Europe . It is a member of the
'''one'''world airline alliance. Its main airport is
Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL), in Santiago, with hubs/focus cities at
Ministro Pistarini International Airport (EZE) in
Buenos Aires ,
Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM) in
Lima ,
Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO) in
Quito and at
Miami International Airport (MIA) in
Miami .
LAN Airlines and
Aerolineas Argentinas are the only Latin American airlines that fly to Oceania.
The airline was founded by
Chile an Army Air Services Commander Arturo Merino Benitez (who had the
Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport named after him years later), and began operations on
March 5 ,
1929 as Línea Aeropostal Santiago-Arica. It took the name LAN Chile in
1932 . In September
1989 , the Chilean government privatized the carrier, selling a majority stake in the company to
Icarosan and
Scandinavian Airlines System .
The approval from the Chilean Antimonopolies Board resulted in the acquisition of control of the country's second airline
Ladeco on
11 August 1995 . In October
1998 LAN Chile merged fast Air with Ladeco. As of March
2004 LAN Chile and its subsidiaries
LAN Peru ,
LAN Ecuador and
LAN Dominicana became unified under the single LAN brand. On
17 June 2004 LAN Chile changed its formal name to LAN Airlines as part of this rebranding process. Midth of
2005 LAN opened its subsidiary
LAN Argentina in Argentina and operates national and international flights from
Buenos Aires , being the second biggest local operator behind Aerolineas Argentinas.
LAN Airlines has the following subsidiaries and shareholdings:
LAN Chile Cargo (99.4%),
LANExpress (99.4%),
ABSA - Aerolinhas Brasileiras (73.3%),
LAN Peru (70%),
LAN Dominicana (49%),
LAN Ecuador (45%),
LAN Argentina (49%),
MAS Air (39.5%) and
Florida West International Airways (25%). It also has 11,173 employees.
LAN codeshares with
American Airlines ,
British Airways and
Iberia to other European destinations, to Asian destinations with
Korean Air , and some destinations in Australia and New Zealand with
Qantas .
See full article .
The LAN Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (at 3 December 2005):
Also on order are 15
V2500 s. Lan Airlines has recently renovated its Boeing's 767s, adding amenities like chairs that go down 180 degrees, and seatback TV's
The average LAN fleet age is 10.3 years old in April 2006.
