Aerovías de Integración Regional S.A. (

Acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

: ''AIRES'', lit. ''airs''),

d/b/a A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...

LATAM Airlines Colombia (formerly known as LAN Colombia) is a Colombian

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...

. It is the second-largest air carrier in Colombia after

Avianca Avianca S.A. ( acronym in Spanish for ''Aerovias del Continente Americano S.A.'', "Airways of the American Continent") is a Colombian airline. It has been the flag carrier of Colombia since December 5, 1919, when it was initially registered und ...

. It operates scheduled regional domestic passenger services, as well as a domestic cargo service. Its main hub is

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 ...

in Bogotá.

History

HK4509 Dash 8 Aires Colombia (7501542150)

The airline was founded on October 2, 1980, starting operations on February 23, 1981, with a few small planes, until they acquired some

Embraer 110 Bandeirante The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (English: ''pioneer'') is a Brazilian general purpose 15–21 passenger twin-turboprop light transport aircraft designed by Embraer for military and civil use. The EMB 110 was designed by the French engineer Max H ...

and

Fairchild F27 The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 were versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined turboprop passenger aircraft manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to the stand ...

. In 1990, the airline registered a 9% decrease in passenger transport. With the rise of competition with

AeroRepública Copa Airlines Colombia is a commercial passenger airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or al ...

in November 1992, AIRES made small expansions, mostly adding service to the neighboring countries of

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and

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: ' ...

. In November 1998, the airline began its coverage in the

Caribbean Region The Caribbean region of Colombia or Caribbean coast region is in the north of Colombia and is mainly composed of 8 departments located contiguous to the Caribbean.Barranquilla, from where flights began to: Cartagena, Santa Marta,

Valledupar Valledupar () is a city and municipality in northeastern Colombia. It is the capital of Caesar Department. Its name, ''Valle de Upar'' (Valley of Upar), was established in honor of the Amerindian cacique who ruled the valley; ''Cacique Upar''. T ...

, Corozal among other cities in the north of the country. On December 13, 2000, the airline began its internationalization with the opening of the Barranquilla-

Oranjestad, Aruba Oranjestad ( , , ; literally " Orange City") is the capital and largest city of Aruba, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is located on the southern coast near the western end of the island country. In the local languag ...

route, flying twice a week, later it began operations to

Willemstad Willemstad ( , ; ; en, William Town, italic=yes) is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the capital of the Netherlands Antilles pr ...

, Curaçao. In 2004, the company made a corporate image change, as well as the change in the stationery, said investment had a cost of close to 1,000 million pesos. In 2009, with the beginning of the trunk routes, a new era began and thus rubbed shoulders with

and

Copa Airlines Colombia Copa Airlines Colombia is a commercial passenger airline founded and registered under the corporate name of AeroRepública S.A. in November 1992, and is the second airline in Colombia for international passengers carried after Avianca and the th ...

, and this was done by incorporating Jet aircraft and breaking the tariff scheme by becoming a low-cost airline. On October 28, 2010, it was announced that 98% of the shares in the previous airline AIRES had been acquired 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 ...

an carrier

LAN Airlines 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 ...

. On November 26, 2010, LAN Airlines announced that it completed the purchase of 98.9% of AIRES' shares, assuming its total debt and including it in the LAN holding company as a subsidiary of the group. On December 3, 2011, AIRES was renamed and started operations as ''LAN Colombia'', becoming a member of the aeronautical holding

LATAM Airlines Group 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 ...

. It became an affiliate member of the

Oneworld Oneworld (stylised as oneworld; CRS: *O) is an airline alliance founded on 1 February 1999. The alliance's stated objective is to be the first choice airline alliance for the world's frequent international travellers. Its central alliance offic ...

alliance on October 1, 2013, but left on May 1, 2020.

Destinations

Fleet

Current fleet

Airbus A320-233, LAN Colombia (Aires Colombia) AN2232077

, LATAM Colombia's fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Former fleet

The airline previously operated the following aircraft:

Accidents and incidents

*On August 14, 1995, AIRES Flight 413, an

Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (English: ''pioneer'') is a Brazilian general purpose 15–21 passenger twin-turboprop light transport aircraft designed by Embraer for military and civil use. The EMB 110 was designed by the French engineer Max ...

(registered HK-2594), crashed into a mountain of the

Nevado del Huila Nevado del Huila (, ) at , is the highest volcano in Colombia, located at the tripoint of the departments of Huila, Tolima and Cauca. It is visible from the city of Cali. The andesitic volcano is located on top of the Ibagué Batholith.Planch ...

, Colombia. All 6 passengers and 2 pilots were killed. *On February 20, 2002, a Bombardier Dash 8-300 (registered HK-3951X), en route from

Neiva Neiva () is the capital of the Department of Huila. It is located in the valley of the Magdalena River in south central Colombia with a population of about 357,392 inhabitants. It is one of the most important cities in southern Colombia, mainly ...

to Bogotá, was hijacked by 4 brigands, forcing them to land in a town and kidnapped a senator who was on board. *On January 28, 2008, AIRES Flight 053, Bombardier Dash 8-200 (registered HK-3997), overran the runway at

, en route from

Maracaibo, Venezuela ) , motto = "''Muy noble y leal''"(English: "Very noble and loyal") , anthem = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_alt = ...

after the left gear collapsed. The probable cause of the crash was that the aircraft was carrying out a landing with an unresolved fault in the left engine, which prevented the aircraft from being able to stop within the length of runway available, causing a runway excursion. A contributing factor was the failure to correct the maintenance reports in a satisfactory manner and failure to properly follow-up on repetitive entries. None of the 41 occupants were injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged and written off. *On August 23, 2008, AIRES Flight 051, a Bombardier Dash 8-300 (registered HK-3952), sustained substantial damage after the right hand main landing gear collapsed on landing at

Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional Ernesto Cortissoz, ) is an international airport serving the area of Barranquilla, the capital city of the Atlántico department in Colombia. The airport is located in the subu ...

. The crew noticed a vibration of the right gear. None of the 31 occupants were injured. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and written off. *On August 16, 2010,

AIRES Flight 8250 AIRES Flight 8250 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight that on 16 August 2010 crashed on landing at night in poor weather on the Colombian island of San Andrés, killing two of the 131 people on board. The aircraft, an AIRES-operated Boei ...

crashed on landing at

Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport (IATA: ADZ, ICAO: SKSP) (formerly Sesquicentenario Airport) is the main airport in the archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, one of the departments of Colombia. It is able to rece ...

, in San Andrés, Colombia, after reportedly being struck by lightning during a thunderstorm. The death of one person was reported as a result of a heart attack on the way to the hospital and another 129 were injured. One of the injured occupants later died. The cause was later determined to be pilot error. *On March 29, 2022, LATAM Colombia Flight 4292, an

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: '' ...

(registered CC-BAS) bound for

Rafael Núñez International Airport Rafael Núñez International Airport is an international airport serving the Caribbean port city of Cartagena, Colombia, Cartagena, Colombia. It is the largest airport in the country's northern Caribbean region in terms of passenger movement. It ...

in Cartagena, had to return and make an emergency landing at

José María Córdova International Airport José María Córdova International Airport is an international airport located in the city of Rionegro, south-east of Medellín, and is the second largest airport in Colombia after El Dorado International Airport of Bogotá in terms of infra ...

in Medellin after its nosewheel was rotated ninety degrees shortly after takeoff, all the passengers and crew were unharmed.

References

External links

*
Conexión
(inflight magazine)
LAN Airlines buys Aires
{{IATA members, latinam Airlines of Colombia Colombia Former Oneworld affiliate members Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association Airlines established in 1980