Aero Continente Chile

Aero Continente Chile was a passenger airline from Chile, that operated scheduled domestic and international flights out of Santiago International Airport on behalf of its parent company, Aero Continente from Peru.[1]

Aero Continente Chile
IATA ICAO Callsign
C7 NTI
Founded1999
Ceased operations2002
HubsSantiago International Airport
Fleet size6 (at height)
HeadquartersSantiago de Chile, Chile
Aero Continente Boeing 767-200ER

History

In 1999, Aero Continente decided to set up a subsidiary in Chile in order to get access to the Chilean domestic market, in addition to its native Peruvian one, where it was just about to acquire a monopoly position at that time. Thus, Aero Continente Chile was founded, operating domestic flights within Chile under different airline codes than its parent. From 2000, it also operated international flights to Miami, which were routed via Lima in order to connect with the feeder flights of Aero Continente there.[2]

In 2002, the company was grounded by Chilean authorities over allegations of illegal drug trade involving Fernando Zevallos, the airline's founder.[3][4] Aero Continente claimed that this was rather a measure of protecting LAN Airlines from the competition, but ultimately decided to re-integrate the Chilean subsidiary back into the mainline business.[2]

Fleet

Aero Continente Chile operated a fleet that consisted of five Boeing 737-200 and one larger Boeing 767-200. All aircraft had been handed down from mainline Aero Continente.[5]

References
  1. List of present and former airlines of Chile at airlineupdate.com Archived July 17, 2012, at Archive.today
  2. "History of Aero Continente (in Spanish)". Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
  3. "Founder of Peru's AeroContinente Is Accused of Building Airline on Drugs", Published: March 14, 2005, New York Times article on alleged cases of drug trade with Aero Continente
  4. Free Library news item on the grounding of Aero Continente in Chile
  5. Aero Continente Chile fleet list at planespotters.net


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