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Lan Chile – Flight and Travel Information
LAN Airlines, formerly known as LAN Chile, is one of South America's leading airlines and the national flag carrier of Chile.
From its hub at Comodoro Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Chile's capital, Santiago, LAN Airlines has an extensive flight network covering Australia, the Caribbean, North America, South America and Europe.
It frequently transports passengers to and from Santiago and London, via Madrid, with the help of its partner airlines. Flights to and from Guayaquil in Ecuador are also available, via Madrid.
LAN Airlines has a long history of providing top quality service to the people of its home country and South America, as well as others across the globe.The airline traces its origins back to 1929, when the company was established on the orders of the Chilean government to transport passengers, cargo and mail.
Comodoro Arturo Merino Benitez, the head of the Chilean army air services, was made responsible for setting up the carrier, which initially operated under the name of Linea Aeropostal Santiago-Arica. Santiago's main airport, which serves as the airline's hub to this day, was later named after him.
As the airline's remit grew and the scope of its operations increased, it was renamed Linea Aerea Nacional de Chile, or LAN Chile.
In 1946 the airline, which had hitherto operated only domestic services, made its first international flight to Argentina.
This initial progress was soon built on and by 1958 LAN Chile was offering services to the US.
1964 saw the arrival of the first commercial jet airliners in Chile and by 1970, the national carrier had begun operating regular flights to and from Europe.
In 1989, shortly after the dictator General Pinochet was removed by a popular vote, LAN Chile was privatised, ending 60 years as a state-owned enterprise.
The majority of the shares, 51 per cent, were bought up by the Scandinavian airline group SAS and a coalition of local investors.
However it was not until 1994 that the government sold most of the rest of its shares, leaving SAS and its partners in control of 98.7 per cent of the company.
Since privatisation, LAN Airlines has gone from strength to strength, launching regional subsidiaries LAN Peru and LAN Ecuador in 1999 and 2003 respectively.
The company changed its corporate image in 2004, officially adopting the name LAN Airlines SA.
The change aims to reflect the values and attributes common to all of the airlines making up the LAN alliance and emphasises the organisation's internationalisation strategy.
Today LAN Airlines is a member of the prestigious oneworld alliance, along with other well-known airlines such as British Airways, Aer Lingus and Cathay Pacific, which greatly extends the number of cheap flights and convenient flight routes that it can offer to customers.
Its membership of the alliance also means that customers have the opportunity to earn and spend reward points through LAN Chile's great loyalty card scheme, LANpass, with its partner airlines.
Reward points can be spent on treats including free fares and flight class upgrades to more than 600 destinations throughout the world, while passengers who qualify for elite membership of the LANpass scheme are entitled to even further exclusive perks and bonuses every time they fly.
LAN Chile operates its flights with a varied and modern fleet of aeroplanes, including Airbus A340-300 aeroplanes, Airbus 320-200 aeroplanes, Airbus 319 aircraft, Boeing 767-300 ERs and Boeing 737-200 aircraft.
A popular airline, LAN has won many awards recently including being honoured by the Official Airline Guide as the Best Airline Based in Central/South America and the Caribbean for 2006 and being voted one of the best-managed companies in Latin America by Euromoney magazine.
This high quality is reflected in the service passengers can expect onboard a LAN Chile flight.
LAN Airlines has changed almost beyond recognition since it was founded, but by maintaining its strong tradition of service and quality, it has remained an airline that would still make its founder, Comodoro Arturo Merino Benitez, proud.
