Sky Airline


Sky Airline, styled as SꓘY, is an airline based at Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Santiago, Chile. It is the second largest airline in the country behind rival LATAM Airlines and the first airline to operate under a low-cost model in the country. It serves international routes to Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Uruguay. It also operates charter flights in Chile and South America and domestic flights within Peru.

History

Sky Airline was controlled by its founder, Jürgen Paulmann, a German-Chilean businessman, brother of retail billionaire Jurgen Paulmann. It started operations in December 2001 and made the first flights from Santiago to Northern Chile in June 2002. Since 2005 is a full member of IATA.
In April 2009, the company signed an agreement with Aerolineas Argentinas, allowing the Argentinean flag carrier to offer in all its commercial offices and through its electronic ticket system most of the destinations covered by Sky Airline in Chile.
In 2011 it signed a codeshare agreement with TACA Airlines for domestic flights in Chile, Peru and between both countries. In 2012 it signed a codeshare agreement with TACA's parent company, Colombia's Avianca for operations between Chile and Colombia.
The airline planned to transition to a low-cost carrier model during 2015 and 2016 to reduce costs.

Sky Airline Peru

Awards

Sky Airline was named the Best Regional Airline in South America in the 2014, 2015 and 2016 Skytrax World Airline Awards.
In addition, OAG declared Sky Airline as the most punctual airline of 2016.

Maintenance

Maintenance services are supplied by AIRMAN, a sister maintenance company based in Santiago Airport.

Destinations

CountryCityAirportNotes
ArgentinaBuenos AiresMinistro Pistarini International Airport
ArgentinaCordobaIngeniero Aeronáutico Ambrosio L.V. Taravella International Airport
ArgentinaRosarioRosario – Islas Malvinas International Airport
ArgentinaMendozaGovernor Francisco Gabrielli International Airport
BoliviaLa PazEl Alto International Airport
BrazilBelo HorizonteTancredo Neves International Airport charter
BrazilFlorianopolisHercílio Luz International Airport
BrazilRio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport
BrazilSalvadorDeputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport
BrazilSão PauloSão Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport
ChileAntofagastaCerro Moreno International Airport
ChileAricaChacalluta International Airport
ChileBalmacedaBalmaceda Airport
ChileCalamaEl Loa International Airport
ChileCopiapóDesierto de Atacama Airport
ChileConcepciónCarriel Sur International Airport
ChileEl SalvadorRicardo García Posada Airport
ChileIquiqueDiego Aracena International Airport
ChileLa SerenaLa Florida Airport
ChileOsornoCañal Bajo Carlos Hott Siebert Airport
ChilePuerto MonttEl Tepual Airport
ChilePuconPucón Airport
ChilePuerto NatalesTeniente Julio Gallardo Airport
ChilePunta ArenasPresidente Carlos Ibáñez del Campo International Airport
ChileSantiagoComodoro Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport
ChileTemucoLa Araucanía Airport
ChileValdiviaPichoy Airport
PeruArequipaRodríguez Ballón International AirportOperated by Sky Airline Perú
PeruAyacuchoCoronel FAP Alfredo Mendívil Duarte AirportOperated by Sky Airline Perú
PeruCuscoAlejandro Velasco Astete International AirportOperated by Sky Airline Perú
PeruIquitosCoronel FAP Francisco Secada Vignetta International AirportOperated by Sky Airline Perú
PeruLimaJorge Chávez International Airport
PeruPiuraFAP Captain Guillermo Concha Iberico International AirportOperated by Sky Airline Perú
PeruPucallpaFAP Captain David Abensur Rengifo International AirportOperated by Sky Airline Perú
PeruTarapotoCadete FAP Guillermo del Castillo Paredes AirportOperated by Sky Airline Perú
PeruTrujilloFAP Captain Carlos Martínez de Pinillos International AirportOperated by Sky Airline Perú
PeruTumbesFAP Captain Pedro Canga Rodríguez AirportOperated by Sky Airline Perú
UruguayMontevideoCarrasco International Airport
UruguayPunta Del EsteCapitán de Corbeta Carlos A. Curbelo International Airport

Fleet

Current fleet

The Sky Airline fleet consists of the following aircraft :

Fleet development

The company expected to expand its current fleet to 25 planes by 2019.

Former fleet

Since its beginnings, Sky Airline operated a 100% Boeing 737 fleet, these began to be replaced by Airbus A320 family planes in 2010 and were fully withdrawn in 2013.


Incidents and accidents

  • On July 18, 2012, at 5:08 PM local time, a Sky Airline Flight SKU 101, operated by a Boeing 737-200 Advanced, registration CC-CRQ, with 115 passengers and 6 crew members on board, en route from Antofagasta Cerro Moreno Airport to La Serena-La Florida Airport, aborted landing at La Serena touching the runway with its right hand wing, suffering substantial damage to the wing tip and flap fairing. The plane safely landed at Copiapó-Chamonate Airport at 5:47 PM with no injuries. Visibility conditions at La Serena were rapidly deteriorating at the time of the approach, but still good enough for a safe landing. The plane was subsequently repaired.
  • On October 14, 2015, a passenger on board SKU 112, an Airbus A319, filmed part of the plane's left engine cowling coming off as it took off from Santiago Airport en route to Chamonate Airport. The plane immediately returned to Santiago Airport and landed safely. No passengers were injured. A similar incident with the A319 had happened previously on a British Airways flight departing Heathrow Airport.
OWIKI.org. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.