Airline: | Ladeco |
Iata: | UC |
Icao: | LCO |
Callsign: | LADECO |
Founded: | September 3, 1958 |
Commenced: | November 1, 1958 |
Ceased: | October 28, 2001 (Rebranded as LAN Express) |
Hubs: | |
Focus Cities: | |
Frequent Flyer: | PassClub (until 1998) LanPass (1998-2001) |
Subsidiaries: | Ladeco Cargo |
Destinations: | 48 |
Parent: | LAN-Chile |
Headquarters: | Santiago, Chile |
Founder: | Juan Costabal Echeñique |
Website: | www.ladeco.cl |
Ladeco S.A. (acronym of Línea Aérea Del Cobre or the "Airline of Copper," in reference to the principal Chilean export.[1]) was a Chilean airline.
Ladeco was established on September 3, 1958, by Juan Costabal Echeñique and began flying on November 1.[2] 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.[3] At the time of the takeover, Ladeco was equipped mainly with Boeing 737s as well as some 727s and 757s. 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.
The fleet of Ladeco included the following aircraft:[5] [6]
Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Airbus A300B4 | 2 | 1995 | 1996 | Leased from Carnival Air Lines |
Airbus A320-200 | 1 | 1994 | 1995 | Leased from LACSA |
BAC One-Eleven Series 200AJ | 2 | 1991 | 1994 | |
BAC One-Eleven Series 300AG | 2 | 1990 | 1994 | |
Beechcraft 65 | 1 | 1966 | ||
Beechcraft 95 | 1 | 1965 | 1977 | |
Boeing 707-320C | 3 | 1988 | 1994 | |
Boeing 727-100 | 6 | 1978 | 1995 | |
Boeing 737-200 | 20 | 1980 | 2001 | |
Boeing 737-300 | 2 | 1992 | 1996 | |
Boeing 757-200 | 2 | 1991 | 1996 | |
Douglas C-47 Skytrain | 5 | 1958 | 1976 | |
Douglas DC-6B | 7 | 1966 | 1979 | |
Douglas DC-8-71F | 1 | 1992 | 1994 | |
Fokker F-27 Friendship | 2 | 1987 | 1991 | |
During the 1960s, the airline operated some Douglas DC-3s, with their cargo fleet also including three Boeing 707s.[7]