LAN Airlines

LAN Airlines S.A. (NYSE: LFL) is the Flag Carrier of Chile and it is based in Santiago, Chile. LAN is currently positioned amongst the largest airlines in Latin America, serving Latin America, United States, the Caribbean, Oceania, and Europe. It is a member of the Oneworld airline alliance. LAN Airlines is the 49th oldest air carrier in the world from its foundation date, and the 10th oldest airline in operation today.

History

The airline was founded by Chilean Air Services Commander Arturo Merino Benitez (for whom the Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport was named some years later), and began operations on March 5, 1929 as Línea Aeropostal Santiago-Arica. It took the name Línea Aérea Nacional de Chile (LAN Chile - In English: National Airline of Chile) in 1932.

In 1970 the airline had its headquarters at Los Cerillos Airport.^[1]

In September 1989, the Chilean government privatized the carrier, selling a majority stake in the company to Icarosan and Scandinavian Airlines, which subsequently sold its stake a few years later to local investors. Since 1994, major shareholders have been the Cueto Family and businessman Sebastián Piñera (Until 2010), who sold his shares when taking office as President of the Republic of Chile.

The approval from the Chilean Anti-monopolies Board resulted in the acquisition of control of the country's second airline Ladeco on August 11, 1995. In October 1998, LanChile merged Fast Air with Ladeco. In March 2004 Lan Chile and its subsidiaries LAN Perú, LAN Ecuador, LAN Dominicana and LANExpress became unified under the single LAN brand, instead of prior Linea Aerea Nacional. On June 17, 2004 LAN Chile changed its formal name to LAN Airlines (which was said to mean Latin American Network Airlines, even though the airline says LAN is no longer an abbreviation now) as part of this re-branding process. In mid-2005 LAN opened its subsidiary LAN Argentina in Argentina and operates national and international flights from Buenos Aires, and is the third largest local operator behind Aerolíneas Argentinas and Austral. This subsidiary is also under the single LAN brand.

LAN Airlines has the following subsidiaries and shareholdings: LAN Cargo (99.4%), LAN Express (99.4%), ABSA - Aerolinhas Brasileiras (73.3%), LAN Perú (70%), LAN Dominicana (49%), LAN Ecuador (45%), LAN Argentina (49%), MasAir (39.5%) and Florida West International Airways (25%). It also has 15,456 employees.

LAN codeshares with American Airlines and Alaska Airlines to U.S. destinations, British Airways and Iberia to European destinations, to Brazilian internal destinations with TAM Linhas Aéreas, to Asian destinations with Cathay Pacific and Korean Air, and some destinations in Australia and New Zealand with Qantas.

As of August 1, 2006, LAN Airlines merged first and business classes of service into a single class, named Premium Business.

In 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 LAN was voted the best airline in South America by Skytrax.

On August 13, 2010, LAN signed a non-binding agreement with Brazilian airline TAM Airlines to merge,^[2] and formed the LATAM Airlines Group.^[3]

On October 28, 2010, LAN has acquired 98% ot the shares of AIRES, the second largest carrier in Colombia. In December 3, 2011 AIRES started operating as LAN Colombia

Subsidiaries

• LAN Argentina
• LAN Colombia
• LAN Ecuador
• LAN Express
• LAN Perú

Cargo Branches

• LAN Cargo
• ABSA
• Florida West International Airways
• LANCO
• MasAir

Destinations

LAN Airlines operates in 31 international, 17 domestic, 5 seasonal and 4 marketed destinations in 21 countries. When the airline takes delivery of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner it will start flights to Washington D.C. and London-Heathrow. It is also considering starting flights to Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and Atlanta in the USA; in Europe to Barcelona, Brussels and/or Amsterdam, Rome and Zurich; in Africa and Asia to Cape Town, Johannesburg, Singapore, Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong. With the delivery of more Airbus A319s, Airbus A320s and new deliveries of the Airbus A321, it will start new destinations in South America; it has considered Panama, San Jose de Costa Rica, Curitiba, Asunción, Manaos, Rosario, Cuzco and others.

Codeshare agreements

Lan Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines as of April 2011, * indicates members of the Oneworld alliance:

On March 3, 2011 LAN Airlines and JetBlue announced the launch of interline agreements that bring new connecting options for travelers flying between major destinations throughout the Americas via New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Under the interline agreement, Customers will be able to purchase a single electronic ticket that combines travel on JetBlue and any of the LAN carriers, bringing new options and new destinations to customers of both airlines.^[4]

Fleet

LAN became the launch customer for the Pratt & Whitney PW6000 engine on the Airbus A318.^[5] Its Airbus A319s and Airbus A320s are equipped with International Aero Engines V2500s. Lan Airlines has recently renovated its Boeing 767s, adding amenities like flat bed seats in Premium Business class, which offers 180 degrees of recline, and new industry leading personal TVs.

In late 2007, LAN Airlines announced that it was planning to acquire some Boeing 777 freighters for its LAN Cargo fleet.

As of May 2008, LAN Airlines retired its last 737-200 from service; the 737-200 was replaced by the Airbus A318. In addition to its A320's family aircraft and Boeing 767 family, LAN will buy the new Boeing 787 for its long haul routes such as Auckland, Sydney and European routes, replacing its Airbus A340-300s. With this new aircraft it plans to open new routes like London-Heathrow and Rome-Fiumicino. In February 2011, LAN announced plans to order 10 A318 fleet in 2011, to purchase another 128 airliners from the A320 family and 1 more order of A340-300. LAN Airlines is the American launch costumer for the Sharklets for its A320 fleet^[6]

The Boeing customer codes for LAN Airline is 7x7-x16 (I.e. 767-316). The average LAN Airlines fleet age is 5.8 years old as of April 2011.^[7]

The LAN Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of March 2011):^{[8][9][10][11]}

¹Premium class seating available on following routes:
Santiago to Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Sao Paulo, Lima, Madrid, Frankfurt, Auckland, Sydney, New York, Miami
Lima to Quito-Medellin, Bogota, Sao Paulo, Los Angeles, Madrid, Frankfurt
Buenos Aires to Santiago, Quito, Guayaquil, Miami

Retired Fleet

LAN Airlines had also operated these following aircraft since it started services on the Santiago-Ovalle, Copiapó-Antofagasta-Iquique-Arica Route with the Havilland Gipsy Moth carrying mail and 2 passengers, 1929.

• BAE 146-200 - Domestic route expansion, 1990
• Boeing 707-320 - First scheduled flight to Frankfurt (Via Paris, Madrid and Sao Paulo), 1968
• Boeing 727-100 - Replaced the Sud Aviation Carravelle and Douglas DC-4
• Boeing 737-200 - Last aircraft retired May 2008, Replacement Airbus A320 family
• Boeing 747-100 - First scheduled flight to Los Angeles, 1979
• Boeing 767-200ER - Replaced the McDonnell Douglas DC-10, 1989
• Convair 380 - Douglas DC-3 replacement, 1952
• De Havilland DHC-6
• De Havilland Dove DH-104
• Douglas DC-3 - Opened the flights to Buenos Aires, La Paz and Lima, 1945
• Douglas DC-4 - First long-haul flight to Miami (Via Lima and Panamá), 1954
• Ford 5 AT-C - Santiago - Mendoza Route, 1934
• Havilland Gipsy Moth
• Lockheed Electra L-10A
• Lockheed C-60
• McDonnell Douglas DC-10 - Boeing 707 replacement, 1979
• Sud Aviation Carravelle - First long-haul flight to New York (Via Lima, Bogotá and Montego Bay), 1961

LANPASS

LAN Airlines created the LANPASS frequent flyer program to reward customer loyalty. There are currently over two million members in Chile, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Canada and the United States. Every year, over 110,000 LANPASS members fly for free. LANPASS members earn kilometres every time they fly with LAN, a Oneworld alliance member, a LANPASS-affiliated airline or by using the services of any LANPASS-associated business around the world.

The LANPASS Program has four membership categories^[13]:

• LANPASS
• Premium (Oneworld Ruby)^[14]
• Premium Silver (Oneworld Sapphire)^[14]
• Commodore (Oneworld Emerald)^[14]

South America AirPass

The "South America AirPass" describes an airfare that allows passengers residing outside of South America to purchase individual, one-way coupon for flights between any of the South American destinations that make up LAN's at a price determined by two factors:

1. Whether the passenger reaches South America with LAN or with another Oneworld alliance member.
2. The distance between the point of departure and the destination.

The purchase of the AirPass coupons must be made at the time intercontinental travel is purchased and outside South America.

Incidents and accidents

• On April 3, 1961, Douglas C-47A CC-CLD crashed into a hillside due to inclement weather. On board were many members of the Chilean association football club C.D. Green Cross. 4 crewmembers and 20 passengers died in the crash.^[15]

• On February 6, 1965 a Douglas DC-6, operating as LAN Chile Flight 107 from Santiago to Ezeiza, Argentina at an altitude of about 12,000 ft (3,658 m), flew into a mountain near the San José Volcano in the Las Melosas area of the Andes. All of the 87 passengers and crew on board died in what is as of 2011 the worst aircraft accident in Chile.^[16]

• April 28, 1969 LAN Chile Flight 160 crashed short of runway at Colina, Chile. None of the 60 passengers and crew were injured in the accident.

• December 5, 1969, Douglas C-47A CC-CBY crashed on take-off from El Tepual Airport, Puerto Montt. The aircraft was operating a cargo flight, all three people on board survived.^[17]

• May 25, 1972, one hour and 18 minutes after take-off from Panama City, a homemade pipe bomb exploded in the ice water fountain service compartment of a Boeing 727. A rapid decompression followed. A successful emergency landing was carried out at Montego Bay, Jamaica.

• August 3, 1978, Buenos Aires/Ezeiza-Ministro Pistarini Airport: a Boeing 707 was approaching runway 11 in fog when it struck trees in a gentle descent, some 2500m short of the runway threshold and 300m out of line with the runway centreline.

• On August 4, 1987, a Boeing 737-200, while on the approach at Calama/El Loa airport, landed short of the displaced threshold of runway 27. The nosegear collapsed and the aircraft broke in two. A fire broke out 30 minutes later and destroyed the aircraft. The threshold was displaced by 880m due to construction work. There was one fatality.

• On February 19, 1991, a chartered LAN Chile BAe 146-200 overran the runway on landing at Puerto Williams in southern Chile and sank in the nearby waters. Twenty of the 66 passengers died.^[18][19]

• On March 28, 2007, LAN Airlines Flight 801 traveling between Santiago and Auckland was involved in a near-miss incident with a meteor while over the Pacific Ocean. It is estimated that the flaming object passed within five nautical miles of the aircraft, while the crew could hear the objects breaking the sound barrier. While it was initially thought the object was an old Russian satellite re-entering the atmosphere, that explanation was subsequently ruled out by NASA.

• On July 5, 2008, LAN Airlines Flight 533 was involved in a near-miss incident at New York's JFK airport. The aircraft, bound for Santiago, Chile, was nearly struck after take off by Cayman Airways Flight 792. The Cayman aircraft, arriving at JFK from the Cayman Islands, performed a go-around after a missed approach on a perpendicular runway. Both aircraft performed steep banks to avoid one another, under the control tower's direction.

References

External links

• LAN Airlines
• LAN mobile site
• Route Maps
• LAN Airlines inflight magazine
• LAN Airlines Facebook
• LAN Airlines YouTube Channel
• About LAN Airpasses