DAP is a Chilean airline that operates charter and schedule flights, with its base in

Punta Arenas, Chile Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Aren ...

. The DAP group is a consortium formed by Aerovías DAP, AeroRescate, Antarctic Airways, DAP Antarctica, DAP Helicópteros and Mineral Airways.

History

The airline was established in 1980 and is wholly owned by the Pivcevic family. "DAP" is the acronym of its creator, Domingo Andrés Pivcevic, a Punta Arenas businessman. Its first flight was with a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter that to this day flies with the company. After visualizing the need for air transport in the area of Magallanes, the company acquired a Piper PA-31 Navajo that it employed for a couple years, before replaced it with two Cessna 402 units and a Beechcraft King Air 100. Its first operations were between Punta Arenas, Porvenir, Puerto Williams and Puerto Natales, with some charter operations to other cities of Chilean and Argentinean Patagonia. At the beginning of the 1990s, the company flew from Punta Arenas to

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

, for which it soon incorporated two Boeing 727-100 units that operated the Santiago-Punta Arenas-Mount Pleasant route. However, the three large commercial airlines in Chile (LAN Chile, Ladeco and National Airlines) worked together to bring prices down to fight the competition established by DAP, which finally retired from the market, filing a lawsuit citing unloyal competition. In 2007, DAP was paid a legal compensation by the offending airlines. In over 36 years of continuous operation, DAP has not registered any accidents that put to risk life or limb of any passengers, including over 100.000 flight hours by its helicopter company DAP Helicópteros.

Flying to Antarctica

Another of the air routes operated by Aerovías DAP is the flight from Punta Arenas to Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva base, located at aerodrome Teniente Rodolfo Marsh, in King George Island, on the Antarctic territory claimed by

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 ...

. The first flight to

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

took place on February 12, 1989 on the

Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restart ...

, later incorporating a King Air 100 for this operation. Starting in 2003, two de Havilland Canada DHC-7 aircraft were leased for this summer operation. These airplanes flew to Antarctica as well as being employed in other routes DAP held in Patagonia at the time. In 2007, the airline decided to lease a

BAe 146-200 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro Internationa ...

that was operated by the British company Flightline. This plane began flying to Antarctica with DAP in early 2008. Currently, through its brand Antarctic Airways, DAP carries out 76% of all air traffic between Antarctica and America, using two BAe 146-200 and a King Air 300.

Destinations

Fleet

The Aerovías DAP fleet includes the following aircraft: *3

Avro RJ100 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro International ...

(as of August 2019) *2

Avro RJ85 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro Internation ...

(as of August 2019) *1 British Aerospace 146-100 *3 British Aerospace 146-200 (as of August 2018) *1 De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 300 (as of August 2019) *1 CASA 212-100 (stored) *2 Cessna 402C *1 Beechcraft King Air 100 *1 Beechchcraft King Air 300 DAP Helicópteros fleet comprises: *4 Eurocopter AS355F TwinStar *5 Eurocopter BO105CB4 *4 Eurocopter BO105CBS *1 Eurocopter EC135T1 (incorporated May 2007) *1 Eurocopter AS350B3

External links

Aerovías DAPAeroRescate

DAP Helicopteros

References