EquinoxAir S.A.S, operating as Equair, is an airline headquartered in
Quito
Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...
,
Ecuador.
As of January 10, 2022, it operates domestic flights, between Quito,
Guayaquil and the
Galápagos Islands. The airline now competes with the Ecuadorian subsidiaries of
Avianca and
LATAM
LATAM Airlines Group S.A. is an airline holding company headquartered in Santiago, Chile. It is considered the largest airline company in Latin America with subsidiaries in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru. The company filed for Ch ...
, as well as
Aeroregional.
History
Equair was founded in October 2020 as ''EquinoxAir''. It started its formation process with the authorities, and in March 2021 it got assigned some of the frequencies to the
Baltra
Baltra Island (Spanish: ''Isla Baltra''), is a small island of the Galápagos Islands. Also known as South Seymour (named after Lord Hugh Seymour), Baltra is a small flat island located near the center of the Galápagos. It was created by geolo ...
and
San Cristóbal islands that
TAME
Tame may refer to:
*Taming, the act of training wild animals
*River Tame, Greater Manchester
*River Tame, West Midlands and the Tame Valley
*Tame, Arauca, a Colombian town and municipality
* "Tame" (song), a song by the Pixies from their 1989 alb ...
used to operate before its dissolution.
On November 16, 2021, the company was officially presented and the Equair brand was revealed in an event that took place in ''Centro de Convenciones Bicentenario'', Quito.
On December 4, 2021, Equair received the first aircraft of its fleet, a
Boeing 737-700
The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a narrow-body aircraft powered by two jet engines and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third generation derivative of the Boein ...
. This aircraft was ferried from
Lleida
Lleida (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida.
Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, as ...
,
Spain to
Latacunga, Ecuador with stopovers in
Reykjavík,
Iceland and
Boston,
United States.
Equair was expected to have its inaugural flight, between Quito and Guayaquil on December 22, 2021, but was delayed to January 2022 due to a COVID-19 outbreak between the employees of the airline.
On January 7, 2022, the airline received its operation certificate from the Ecuadorian Civil Aviation General Directorate, after a demonstration flight to the Galápagos Islands was carried out. Then, on January 10, 2022, the airline had its inaugural flight between Quito and Guayaquil.
Equair introduced its frequent flyer program on May 17, 2022 under the "Cacao Miles" name. Besides accruing miles, the program offers discounts with affiliates and in-flight perks.
Destinations
The airline focuses its operations on domestic flights between Quito and Guayaquil, and the Galápagos Islands.
Fleet
As of November 2022, the Equair fleet includes the following aircraft:
See also
*
List of airlines of Ecuador
References
External links
Official website
{{Airlines of Ecuador
Airlines of Ecuador
2020 establishments in Ecuador
Airlines established in 2020