SAETA Air Ecuador (legally ''Sociedad Anónima Ecuatoriana de Transportes Aéreos S.A.'') was a privately held airline of

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

, which was founded in 1966. During its heyday in the 1990s, it flew to numerous destinations in North and South America from its base in

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

History

SAETA was founded 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 ...

in 1966, later the company headquarters were relocated to

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

. The main owners were the Dunn family. In addition to domestic flights, SAETA operated routes in North, Central and South America. It preferred flights to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Panamá Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cost ...

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

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, whose ...

and

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 ...

. In 1990, SAETA took over the Ecuadorian airline SAN, increasing frequencies and fleet for national and international flights. The airline later in 1994 took over LAPSA from Paraguay, operated with an Ecuadorian-Paraguayan Consortium until being sold to TAM Linhas Aereas in 1996. Political instability in the country and currency devaluation led to a decline in passenger numbers. This was followed by the cancellation of flights to the United States of America due to the loss of the approach permit for Category 1 airports. By the mid-1990s, events such as political instability and the devaluation of the currency, damaged SAETA, which caused a reduction in passengers, added to the cancellation of flights to the United States due to the loss of category 1 of the Ecuadorian aeronautical authority since 1993, accelerating its decline. Both SAN and SAETA had serious security breaches, which resulted in the loss of several flights. In February 2000, SAETA ended its flight operations after severe financial problems following the

1998–1999 Ecuador economic crisis The 1998–99 Ecuador economic crisis was a period of economic instability that resulted from a combined inflationary-currency crisis, financial crisis, fiscal crisis, and sovereign debt crisis. Severe inflation and devaluation of the sucre led to ...

Destinations

* **

(

Ministro Pistarini International Airport Ministro Pistarini International Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto Internacional Ministro Pistarini) , also known as Ezeiza International Airport owing to its location in the Ezeiza Partido in Greater Buenos Aires, is an international airport s ...

) * **

Cochabamba Cochabamba ( ay, Quchapampa; qu, Quchapampa) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and the fourth largest city in Bolivia, with a population of 63 ...

(

Jorge Wilstermann International Airport Jorge Wilstermann International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Wilstermann, ) is a high elevation international airport serving Cochabamba, the capital of the Cochabamba Department of Bolivia. The facility is named after Jorge Wils ...

) **

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; "Holy Cross of the Mountain Range"), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River (Bolivia), P ...

(

Viru Viru International Airport Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz de la Sierra is Bolivia's largest international airport. Viru Viru handles domestic, regional, and international flights from Bolivia, North America, South America and Europe and is the hub for Boli ...

) * **

Río de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

(

Rio de Janeiro/Galeão International Airport Rio de Janeiro/Galeão – Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport , popularly known by its original name Galeão International Airport, is the main airport serving Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2019, it was the country's fourth-busiest airpor ...

) * **

(

Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport Comodoro is a municipality in the state of Mato Grosso in the Central-West Region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Mato Grosso This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Mato Grosso (MT), located in the Central-West R ...

) * ** Bogota (

El Dorado International Airport El Dorado International Airport is an international airport serving Bogotá, Colombia and its surrounding areas. The airport is located mostly in the Fontibón district of Bogotá, although it partially extends into the Engativá district and ...

) * **

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

( Las Americas International Airport) * ** Cuenca (

Mariscal Lamar International Airport Mariscal Lamar International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional Mariscal Lamar) is a high elevation airport serving Cuenca, the capital of the Azuay Province in Ecuador. It is named after the Peruvian military leader and politician José de ...

) **

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

(

José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto Internacional José Joaquín de Olmedo; ) is an international airport serving Guayaquil, the capital of the Guayas Province and the second most populous city in Ecuador. I ...

) Hub **

(

Old Mariscal Sucre International Airport Mariscal Sucre International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional Mariscal Sucre) was the main international airport serving Quito, Pichincha Province, Ecuador. It was the busiest airport in Ecuador by passenger traffic, by aircraft movement ...

) Hub **

San Cristóbal Island San Cristóbal Island ( es, Isla San Cristóbal) and named previously by the English as ''Chatham Island'', is the easternmost island in the Galápagos archipelago, as well as one of the oldest geologically. It is administratively part ...

(

San Cristóbal Airport San Cristóbal Airport is an airport on the island of San Cristóbal, in the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador. The airport is on the southwestern end of the island, with rising terrain to the northeast. Approaches to both runways are over the ocean ...

) * **

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

(

Tocumen International Airport Tocumen International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional de Tocumen) is the primary international airport serving Panama City, the capital of Panama. The airport serves as the homebase for Copa Airlines and is a regional hub to and from The ...

) * **

(

Jorge Chávez International Airport Jorge Chávez International Airport (Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chávez) is Peru's main international and domestic airport. It is located in Callao, northwest from Lima Center, the nation's capital city and from the district of Miraflo ...

) * **

(

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

) **

(

Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the greater Miami metropolitan area with over 1,000 daily flights to 167 domestic and international destinations, including most co ...

) **

(

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...

) * **

( Simón Bolívar International Airport)

Fleet

SAETA had operated the following aircraft since it commenced operations:

Accidents and incidents

*On July 3, 1969, a

Douglas C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in f ...

was hijacked on a domestic flight from Tulcán Airport to

Mariscal Sucre International Airport Mariscal Sucre International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional Mariscal Sucre) is an international airport serving Quito, Ecuador. It is the busiest airport in Ecuador and one of the busiest airports in South America. It is located in t ...

. The hijackers demanded to be taken to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. *On October 20, 1971, a

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. The Visc ...

was hijacked by six people. It landed at

. *On August 15, 1976,

SAETA Flight 232 On 15 August 1976, SAETA Flight 232 en route from Quito, Ecuador to Cuenca, Ecuador, Cuenca was reported missing while in flight. The SAETA-operated Vickers Viscount Vickers Viscount variants, 785D carried 55 passengers and four crew members. The ...

, a

(registered HC-ARS) crashed into the Chimborazo volcano, killing all 59 people on board. The flight was considered missing until February 2003, after an independent verification of aircraft wreckage that was discovered in October 2002. *On April 23, 1979, a

(registered HC-AVP)

crashed "Crashed" is the third U.S. rock Single (music), single, (the fifth overall), from the band Daughtry (band), Daughtry's debut album. It was released only to U.S. rock stations on September 5, 2007. Upon its release the song got adds at those stat ...

in the

Pastaza Province Pastaza () is a province in the Oriente of Ecuador located in the eastern jungle. The capital is Puyo, founded on May 12, 1899 and which has 36,700 inhabitants. The city is now accessible by paved roads, a recent development; the main road from ...

on a flight between the

and Cuenca, killing all 57 people on board. The flight was considered missing until 1984, when the wreckage was discovered. The aircraft was off track. *On January 18, 1986, a

Sud Aviation Caravelle The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle is a French jet airliner produced by Sud Aviation. It was developed by SNCASE in the early 1950s and made its maiden flight on 27 May 1955. It included some de Havilland designs and components developed for t ...

(registered HC-BAE), operated by Aerovías, crashed in a jungle area after executing a second missed approach procedure at Flores International Airport. Low lying clouds in the area forced the crew to carry out the missed approaches. All 88 passengers and 6 crew members died in the accident. *On August 22, 1997, a

Boeing 727-200 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpor ...

(registered HC-BVU) landed at

with its undercarriage strucked the raised lip of the runway, causing it to collapse. After sliding for about 700 m before coming to rest on the right side of the runway.

References

External links

SAETA aircraft
{{Airlines of Ecuador

SAETA SAETA Air Ecuador (legally ''Sociedad Anónima Ecuatoriana de Transportes Aéreos S.A.'') was a privately held airline of Ecuador, which was founded in 1966. During its heyday in the 1990s, it flew to numerous destinations in North and South Ame ...

Defunct airlines of Ecuador Airlines established in 1966 Airlines disestablished in 2000 1960 establishments in Ecuador 2000s disestablishments in Ecuador