Aviation History
Chilean commercial aviation began in 1929 with the founding of Línea Aérea Nacional (LAN) as a state-run airmail and passenger service linking Santiago to the country's long, geographically isolated coastline. LAN was privatized in the late 1980s and early 1990s, eventually coming under the control of the Cueto family's investment group, and grew into one of Latin America's leading carriers. In 2012 LAN merged with Brazil's TAM Airlines to form LATAM Airlines Group, now the largest airline group in Latin America. Chile's domestic market later saw strong low-cost competition emerge, notably from Sky Airline and JetSmart, driving a sharp rise in air travel affordability. Santiago's Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport serves as the country's main hub, and Chile remains a significant base for LATAM's operations alongside a competitive domestic LCC segment.
LAN was created as a state military-run airline, opening Chile's first scheduled route between Santiago and Arica.
LAN expanded from airmail into regular domestic passenger service along Chile's elongated north-south geography.
LAN Chile started operating international routes beyond South America, including early transpacific and long-haul services in subsequent decades.
The Chilean government privatized LAN Chile, eventually placing control with the Cueto family-led investor group.
LAN rebranded and expanded affiliate operations across Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, and Colombia, building a multinational South American network.
LAN Airlines merged with Brazil's TAM Airlines to form LATAM Airlines Group, the largest airline holding company in Latin America.
JetSmart began operations in Chile, intensifying low-cost competition alongside incumbent Sky Airline.
The COVID-19 pandemic's collapse in air travel demand led LATAM Airlines Group to file for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, emerging restructured in 2022.
LATAM Airlines Chile (formerly LAN Chile) · Sky Airline · JetSmart
Compiled from general public/encyclopedic aviation history sources; LATAM's post-bankruptcy financial structure and Chile's LCC market shares change frequently and should be verified for current figures.
Aviation Firsts
Los Cerrillos Airport — Santiago (1929): Inaugurated 16 May 1929. Passenger service ended 9 February 1967 when Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport (Pudahuel, commissioned 9 February 1967) opened; Los Cerrillos fully closed 8 February 2006. No source called it explicitly 'Chile's oldest airport,' but no older Chilean airport was confirmed this session. El Bosque Airport, an early Santiago military/aviation-school airfield reputed to predate Los Cerrillos, could not be checked this session (fetch failed due to a tool access restriction) — left as an open gap rather than confirmed or ruled out. · Wikipedia ↗
LATAM Airlines Chile (1929): Founded 5 March 1929 as 'Linea Aeropostal Santiago-Arica' ('Postal Air Line Santiago-Arica'), by Chilean Air Force Commodore Arturo Merino Benitez under President Carlos Ibanez del Campo. Renamed Linea Aerea Nacional de Chile in 1932 (commercial name 'LAN Chile'); later 'LAN Airlines' (2004); became 'LATAM Airlines Group'/'LATAM Airlines Chile' after the 2016 merger with Brazil's TAM. No older still-operating Chilean carrier, and no defunct predecessor absorbed into its lineage, was found this session, though an exhaustive search for an unrelated-but-older defunct Chilean carrier was not possible given the exhausted search budget. · LA ↗ · Wikipedia ↗
Menzies Aviation (United Kingdom), 2022: Menzies Aviation's own Wikipedia article states that in April 2022 the company acquired Agunsa Aviation Services (Santiago-based), and separately that in 2023 Menzies 'obtained new operating licenses in Canada, Costa Rica, and Chile.' This documents a foreign GH company entering/expanding in the Chilean market via acquisition in April 2022, but no explicit first-person 'first foreign ground handler in Chile' statement was found, and Agunsa's own prior-ownership history could not be verified this session (page did not resolve), so an earlier foreign entrant (e.g. Swissport, which operates broadly in Latin America) cannot be ruled out. Confidence: tentative. Swissport and dnata were both checked and neither mentions Chile specifically, so no earlier foreign entrant could be identified to compete with this claim. (best-documented candidate found — not source-confirmed as literally first.) · Wikipedia ↗
Aviation Museums1
Fleet by Operator
Passengers by Operator
Annual Passenger Traffic by Airport
Airlines8
Airport Operators2
Ownership & operator links shown only once independently verified against a public source.