History
The airline was founded by Chilean Air Services Commander Arturo Merino Benitez (for whom the Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport was named some years later), and began operations on March 5, 1929 as Línea Aeropostal Santiago-Arica. It took the name Línea Aérea Nacional de Chile (LAN Chile – In English: National Airline of Chile) in 1932.
In 1970 the airline had its headquarters at Los Cerillos Airport.
In September 1989, the Chilean government privatized the carrier, selling a majority stake in the company to Icarosan and Scandinavian Airlines, which subsequently sold its stake a few years later to local investors. Since 1994, major shareholders have been the Cueto Family and businessman Sebastián Piñera (Until 2010), who sold his shares when taking office as President of the Republic of Chile.
The approval from the Chilean Anti-monopolies Board resulted in the acquisition of control of the country's second airline Ladeco on August 11, 1995. In October 1998, LanChile merged Fast Air with Ladeco. In March 2004 Lan Chile and its subsidiaries LAN Perú, LAN Ecuador, LAN Dominicana and LANExpress became unified under the single LAN brand, instead of prior Linea Aerea Nacional. On June 17, 2004 LAN Chile changed its formal name to LAN Airlines (which was said to mean Latin American Network Airlines, even though the airline says LAN is no longer an abbreviation now) as part of this re-branding process. In mid-2005 LAN opened its subsidiary LAN Argentina in Argentina and operates national and international flights from Buenos Aires, and is the third largest local operator behind Aerolíneas Argentinas and Austral. This subsidiary is also under the single LAN brand.
LAN Airlines has the following subsidiaries and shareholdings: LAN Cargo (99.4%), LAN Express (99.4%), ABSA - Aerolinhas Brasileiras (73.3%), LAN Perú (70%), LAN Dominicana (49%), LAN Ecuador (45%), LAN Argentina (49%), MasAir (39.5%) and Florida West International Airways (25%). It also has 15,456 employees.
LAN codeshares with American Airlines and Alaska Airlines to U.S. destinations, British Airways and Iberia to European destinations, to Brazilian internal destinations with TAM Linhas Aéreas, to Asian destinations with Cathay Pacific and Korean Air, and some destinations in Australia and New Zealand with Qantas.
As of August 1, 2006, LAN Airlines merged first and business classes of service into a single class, named Premium Business.
On August 13, 2010, LAN signed a non-binding agreement with Brazilian airline TAM Airlines to merge, and form the LATAM Airlines Group. The merger was completed on 22 June, 2012.
On October 28, 2010, LAN has acquired 98% ot the shares of AIRES, the second largest carrier in Colombia. In December 3, 2011 AIRES started operating as LAN Colombia
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