Ladeco S.A. (acronym of Línea Aérea Del Cobre or the "Airline of Copper," in reference to the principal Chilean export.) was a Chilean airline.

History

Ladeco was established on November 1, 1958, by Juan Costabal Echenique. It transported cargo and passengers from the mining camps in northern and central Chile, mainly belonging to Codelco. Later it operated international routes to the Caribbean and North America.

On August 11, 1995, LAN-Chile bought out the shares of Ladeco. At the time of the takeover, Ladeco was equipped mainly with Boeing 737s as well as some 727ss and 757ss. Ladeco then became exclusively an internal carrier between Chilean cities. In October 1998, Ladeco was merged with Fast Air Carrier. On October 28, 2001, Ladeco was officially rebranded as a new affiliate of LAN-Chile under the name LAN Express, and most internal operations were taken by. The brand was merged into LAN Airlines in 2006.

Destinations

United States

• New York City (John F. Kennedy International Airport)

• Baltimore/Washington (Baltimore-Washington International Airport)

Fleet

The fleet of Ladeco included the following aircraft:During the 1960s, the airline operated some Douglas DC-3s, with their cargo fleet also including three Boeing 707s.

Accidents and incidents

• On April 8, 1968, a Douglas C-49K (registration CC-CBM) crashed on approach to Balmaceda Airport killing all 36 people on board. The aircraft was operating a domestic scheduled passenger flight from Los Cerrillos Airport, Santiago.

• On May 17, 1999, a Boeing 737-200 (registration CC-CYR) was damaged beyond repairs after one of its fuel tanks burst into flames during refueling at Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport.

See also

• List of defunct airlines of Chile

References

External links