LAN (airline)

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(Redirected from LAN Chile)

LAN Airlines S.A. Template:NYSE (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 oneworld 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.

1 History
2 Destinations
3 Fleet
4 External links

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History

The airline was founded by Chilean 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.

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Destinations

See full article LAN Airlines destinations.

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Fleet

Image:LAN.JPG

The LAN Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (at 3 December 2005):

4 Airbus A319-100 (4 more on order)
15 Airbus A320-200 (13 more on order)
4 Airbus A340-300 (2 more on order)
5 Boeing 737-200
1 Boeing 737-200F
15 Boeing 767-300ER (6 more on order)
4 Boeing 767-300ERF (4 more on order)

Also on order are 15 Airbus A318s, on which LAN became the launch customer for the Pratt & Whitney PW6000 engine [1]. Its A319 & A320s are equipped with International Aero Engines V2500s. 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.

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