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Aero Continente

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Aero Continente
IATA ICAO Call sign
N6 ACQ AERO CONTINENTE
FoundedJanuary 4, 1992[1]
Commenced operations
May 25, 1992
Ceased operations
July 12, 2004
(as Aero Continente)
October 29, 2004
(as Nuevo Continente)
HubsJorge Chávez International Airport
Subsidiaries
HeadquartersLima, Peru
Key peopleMiguel Halabi (President)[3]
FounderFernando Zevallos
Employees1,500 (as of July 2004)[4]
Websiteaerocontinente.com

Aero Continente was an airline based in Lima, Peru, operating scheduled domestic and international flights out of Jorge Chavez International Airport.

History

[edit]

Early operations and rapid expansion

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The airline was founded by Fernando Zevallos in January 1992 as Aero Continente. Flight operations were launched on May 25 of that year, initially on regional chartered routes on behalf of Occidental Petroleum, a US-based oil and gas company. Scheduled domestic passenger services commenced on July 20, 1993, using a fleet of just two aircraft: a Boeing 727-100 and a Boeing 737-200. At that time, the Peruvian airline market was dominated by Faucett Perú and Aeroperú. Aero Continente competed with these airlines by offering extremely low ticket fares.

During the 1990s, the safety reputation of the Peruvian airline industry became a public concern after a series of high-profile accidents, especially Faucett's crash in Arequipa and Aeroperú Flight 603, both in 1996. In August of that year, the US Embassy in Lima issued a ban on their employees from flying on Aero Continente due to reported issues with its aircraft engines, and advised caution to US citizens flying on Peruvian airlines, to the point of providing a hotline and a web portal to help tourists know if a certain airline was considered unsafe.[5]

When Faucett and Aéroperu both went bankrupt in 1999 due to financial difficulties, Aero Continente acquired a monopoly position as the only airline operating on domestic routes in the country. By that time, the fleet size had been increased to approximately 30 aircraft, mainly of the 737 type, though larger aircraft like the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar were also used. During that period, international routes were launched, the first ones connecting Lima with Panama City and Santiago de Chile.[6] This coincided with the foundation of Aero Continente Chile, a wholly owned subsidiary aiming at the Chile domestic market using a fleet of Boeing 737-200 aircraft handed down from its parent.[7]

A Boeing 767-200ER on approach to Miami International Airport in July 2003

In late 1999, Aero Continente was granted approval to operate on the prestigious route from Lima to Miami.[8] For this purpose, a Boeing 757-200 had been leased from Air 2000.[9] After half a year, the leasing contract was terminated. The Miami route was henceforth offered by Aero Continente Chile from Santiago with a stopover in Lima with a Boeing 767-200ER. By 2001, the combined international network of the Lima- and Santiago-based companies had grown to include Buenos Aires, Bogotá, La Paz, Caracas, Guayaquil and Santa Cruz de la Sierra.[6]

Aero Continente Dominicana, a second wholly owned subsidiary based in Santo Domingo, had been founded in late 2001.[10] This short-lived business adventure lasted only roughly one year, operating a limited number of flights from the Dominican Republic to Miami. In 2003, after the Dominican subsidiary had failed, Aero Continente itself opened a small base at Santo Domingo Airport, offering VFR flights to the Hispanic population centers in New York City, Los Angeles and Madrid.

Controversy and collapse

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In 2002, the company suffered a setback when Chilean authorities arrested several staff members of Aero Continente Chile over drug trafficking allegations, which forced the airline to cease all flight operations.[11] As a consequence, the Chilean subsidiary was re-integrated into mainline Aero Continente, which claimed the grounding had been rather motivated by concerns that the company had become too strong a competitor for LAN Chile, the Chilean flag carrier.

A Boeing 727-100 at Jorge Chávez International Airport with the revived Nuevo Continente livery in October 2004

On June 1, 2004, Aero Continente had its approval to operate into the United States withdrawn by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Treasury, as its founder and key person, Fernando Zervallos, had been included in a list of the ten most wanted crime bosses of the illegal drug trade (Specially Designated Nationals).[12] Thus, Aero Continente lost its insurance protection, as Global Aerospace, a partly US-based company that was responsible for this matter, was forced to cease its involvement with the airline.[13] It was also unable to buy spare parts for its mostly US-built fleet. Consequently, all flight operations ceased on July 12, 2004.[14][15]

In a comeback effort, the company changed its structure to employee ownership and adopted the new name Nuevo Continente.[4][16] Although the company restart operations on July 23, 2004, focusing only on domestic flights,[3][17] it could not dispel allegations that it was involved in criminal activities.[18] Nuevo Continente suspended its operations on October 29 of the same year, after its operating license was revoked by the Peruvian authorities, officially due to safety concerns.[19]

Destinations

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Domestic

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International

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Fleet

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Over the years, Aero Continente (and later Nuevo Continente) operated the following aircraft types:[25]

Aircraft Introduced Retired
Boeing 727-100 1992 2004
Boeing 737-100 1996 2003
Boeing 737-200 1992 2004
Boeing 757-200 1999
2003		 2000
2004
Boeing 767-200 2000 2004
Fokker F27 Friendship 1994
Fokker F28 Fellowship 1995 2004
Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1996 1997

Accidents and incidents

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  • In 1996, the airline became the center of a scandal after it became known that two teenagers rode in the cockpit of a flight from Lima to Tarapoto, after being instructed to do so by the flight attendants due to overbooking. This act was a flagrant violation of international air safety standards.[26]
  • On December 13, 2003 at 22:48 local time, the Boeing 737-200 (registered OB-1544-P) operating Aero Continente Flight 341 from Caracas to Lima belly-landed at Jorge Chavez International Airport because the pilots had forgotten about lowering the landing gear since they had to cope with a problem concerning the flaps. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair, but all 94 passengers and six crew on board survived the accident.[27][28]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Miguel Ramírez (July 23, 2021). "Controversia de alto vuelo". Elcomercio.pe (in Spanish).
  2. ↑ "AeroContinente Interested In Argentine Market". Aviationweek.com. October 29, 2003.
  3. 1 2 Luis Zalamea (July 28, 2004). "Nuevo Continente Restart Begins In Peru". Aviationweek.com.
  4. 1 2 "Dueños de Aero Continente transfieren acciones a trabajadores". Lmtonline.com (in Spanish). July 20, 2004.
  5. ↑ Sims, Calvin (8 June 1997). "Embassy Ban Rekindles Air-Safety Fears in Peru". The New York Times.
  6. 1 2 History of Aero Continente Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
  7. ↑ "Aero Continente Chile Scheduled To Begin Domestic Operations". Aviationweek.com. February 8, 2000.
  8. 1 2 "Aero Continente Begins Miami Service". Aviationweek.com. October 27, 1999.
  9. ↑ "Aerocontinente Expands To Miami, Plans 20 More Destinations". Aviationweek.com. November 24, 1999.
  10. ↑ "New Dominican Carrier Plans U.S. Service Under Wet-Lease". Aviationweek.com. May 9, 2002.
  11. ↑ "AeroContinente Chile Closes; Executives Remain In Jail". Aviationweek.com. July 24, 2001.
  12. ↑ "Treasury Designates Peruvian Airline". Home.treasury.gov. November 10, 2004.
  13. ↑ "Aero Continente transfers ownership in bid to gain insurance". Insurancetimes.co.uk. July 21, 2004.
  14. ↑ "Autoridades suspenden los vuelos de Aero Continente en Perú". Eluniverso.com (in Spanish). July 12, 2004.
  15. ↑ "Gobierno peruano suspende vuelos de Aerocontinente". Emol.com (in Spanish). July 12, 2004.
  16. ↑ Luis Zalamea (July 26, 2004). "AeroContinente To Restart As Nuevo Continente In Peru". Aviationweek.com.
  17. ↑ "En marcha la nueva aerolínea "Nuevo Continente" en Perú". Emol.com (in Spanish). July 23, 2004.
  18. ↑ "Nuevo Continente Still To Formalize Equity Transfer". Aviationweek.com. August 13, 2004.
  19. ↑ "Suspendidas operaciones de aerolínea Nuevo Continente". Emol.com (in Spanish). October 29, 2004.
  20. 1 2 3 4 "AeroContinente Plans To Operate International Flights Inside Peru". Aviationweek.com. June 26, 2001.
  21. ↑ "AeroContinente Inaugurates Iquitos-Miami Route". Aviationweek.com. October 30, 2002.
  22. 1 2 "AeroContinente Expands Service". Aviationweek.com. August 8, 2003.
  23. ↑ "AeroContinente Peru Starts Lima-Guayaquil-Miami Flights". Aviationweek.com. March 26, 2002.
  24. ↑ "AeroContinente Plans Hub In Santo Domingo, Add To Network". Aviationweek.com. May 7, 2002.
  25. ↑ Information about Aero Continente and Nuevo Continente at the Aero Transport Database
  26. ↑ "Embassy Ban Rekindles Air-Safety Fears in Peru (Published 1997)". 1997-06-08. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  27. ↑ Information about Flight 341 at the Aviation Safety Network
  28. ↑ Official report on Flight 341 (in Spanish)
[edit]
  • Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Nuevo Continente at Wikimedia Commons
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