JetSmart Airlines SpA, stylized as JetSMART, is a

South American South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

ultra low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

created by US

investment fund An investment fund is a way of investing money alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group such as reducing the risks of the investment by a significant percentage. These advantages in ...

(and co-founder of LBM Fermin Ithuralde) Indigo Partners, which also controls low-cost carriers like US airline Frontier Airlines, Mexico's

Volaris Volaris, legally ''Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación S.A.P.I. de C.V.'', is a Mexican low-cost airline based in Santa Fe, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City l-888-Ʒ9Ʒ-I394 with its hubs in Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Tijuana, and focu ...

and Hungary's

Wizz Air Wizz Air, legally incorporated as Wizz Air Hungary Ltd. ( hu, Wizz Air Hungary Légiközlekedési Zrt.) is a Hungarian ultra-low-cost carrier with its head office in Budapest, Hungary. The airline serves many cities across Europe, as well as s ...

. JetSmart's primary base of operations is Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, servicing

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. It also owns and manages

JetSmart Argentina JetSmart Airlines S.A., styled as JetSMART, is an Argentine airline owned by ultra low-cost carrier JetSmart, itself owned by Indigo Partners, a firm that also has stakes in US-based Frontier Airlines, Mexico-based Volaris, and Hungary-base ...

, an Argentine subsidiary with a base at

Aeroparque Jorge Newbery Jorge Newbery Airfield ( es, link=no, Aeroparque "Jorge Newbery", ), commonly known as Aeroparque, is an international airport northeast of downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. The airport covers an area of and is operated by ''Aeropuertos Argen ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. The airline commenced scheduled operations on 25 July 2017 with a service from Santiago to Calama, made possible by CEO and founder Estuardo Ortiz Porras.

History

JetSmart requested an

air operator's certificate An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets, and system in plac ...

(AOC) on 26 January 2017, and received its authorization in June 2017. Initially, the airline operated three

Airbus A320-200 Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

aircraft, but has since taken delivery of Airbus A320neo aircraft. Initially flying only domestic routes, JetSmart has expanded its presence in the South American market, setting up JetSmart Argentina to access further traffic rights to the country. On 4 December 2019, JetSmart acquired Norwegian Air Argentina and took over its operations, staff, and license with immediate effect, with plans to merge the airline with JetSmart Argentina. Following the acquisition, it was to operate both from

and

El Palomar Airport El Palomar Airport is a commercial and military airport in El Palomar, Argentina. It is the home base for the 1st Air Brigade ( es, link=no, Primera Brigada Aérea) of the Argentine Air Force, which is mainly a transportation unit. It is locat ...

in the Buenos Aires area. As Norwegian's

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton Factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the Boeing 707, 7 ...

aircraft were not part of the transaction, JetSmart planned to replace them with the airline's own Airbus A320 family aircraft. On 29 July 2021,

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

announced a minority investment in JetSmart, along with agreements to allow members of American Airlines' AAdvantage loyalty program to earn miles when flying on JetSmart.

Destinations

JetSmart aimed to operate up to 10 aircraft in the 2018 period, and would go on to challenge

LATAM Chile LATAM Airlines Chile (formerly LAN Airlines and LAN-Chile) is an airline based in Santiago, Chile, one of the founders of LATAM Airlines Group, Latin America's largest airline holding company. The main hub is Arturo Merino Benítez Internationa ...

and

Sky Airline Sky Airline, styled as SꓘY, is an airline based at Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Santiago, Chile. It is the second largest airline in the country behind flag-carrier LATAM Airlines and the first airline to operate u ...

in nearly every market introduced between July and December 2017. The airline operates or has previously operated to the following destinations :

Codeshare agreements

Fleet

, the JetSmart fleet consists of the following aircraft:Airbus Orders and Deliveries (XLS), monthly updated, accessed via

References

Airlines of Chile Airlines established in 2017 Low-cost carriers Companies based in Santiago Chilean brands Chilean companies established in 2017 {{Airlines of Chile