Aero Continente

[Latino2002]

Great info for all.
Monday June 10, 7:42 pm Eastern Time
Reuters Company News
Chile grounds Peru's Aero Continente on safety problem

SANTIAGO, Chile, June 10 (Reuters) - Chilean aviation officials revoked on Monday the operating license of Peru's flagship airline Aero Continente, saying the carrier had violated domestic safety rules.
The measure is the latest in a number of run-ins the airline has had with Chilean officials in the past year.

"Due to the nature of the information gathered, the aeronautical authority has determined that the company's management capacity is gravely affected, which jeopardizes the safety of its air operations," Chile's Civil Aeronautical Board said in a statement.

The airline, which competes with Lan Chile (Santiago:LAN.SN - News; NYSE:LFL - News) locally, is not allowed to fly in the country as of Monday.

The government body said the company had fallen behind on its maintenance and operating checks as well as crew instruction and had failed to pay required fees to the civil aviation authorities.

"Our aim...is to guarantee the safety of air operations and protect the lives of users of the national aeronautical system," it said.

Aero Continente, one of Latin America's fastest growing airlines known for its low fares, accused Chile of trying to force it out of the market and urged reciprocal action by the Peruvian government against Lan Chile.

"Just a few days of unpaid salaries. This is really a pretext for taking us out of the game just when we were starting to recover little by little," said Aero Continente's president Lupe Zevallos.

Aero Continente was forced to halt operations here in July 2001 on accusations of laundering drug money. The court-ordered suspension was lifted after two months for lack of evidence. The carrier resumed partial operations late last year but several planes were grounded again after Chilean officials detected safety problems.

Aero Continente is now trying to sue the Chilean government for damages.

"We've had enough. We hope that the Peruvian government shows some respect for Peruvian companies and removes the permits for Lan Peru, which has Chilean capital, or Lan Chile," said Zevallos.

Aero Continente has a 4 percent of the Chilean domestic air traffic market while Lan Chile controls 95.7 percent.


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Related News Categories: airlines/aviation

[GRS]

I was going to post the same article. It is also published on Diario Libre in today's edition. It is a very interesting article and what is going on between the airline and the goverment in Chile, they were accused last year on operating with money laundered from narcotrafic. The airline is also known as aerodeliquent in Peru.

GRS

[Stanley Joaquín]

Detras de esto está Lan Chile, junto a varias instituciones gubernamentales.

Aerocontinente con super problema enchile, porque los aviones son matriculados allá, los que van a los Estados Unidos, porque tanto RD como Peru estan en categoria 2, solo Chile esta en categoria 1, las rutas Santo Domingo - Miami y la proxima Santo Domingo - New York estan en peligro.

Pero espero que esto pronto vuelva a la normalidad, con los chilenos, Aerocontinente pidio el cierre de Lan Peru, y el ministro de transporte del peru, va a estudiar el asunto, aver si de verdad es un asunto de mala competencia departe de un gran competidor o de gobierno chileno, donde podrian dar Stop a Lan Perú, or si es como dicen chile que Aerocontinente no cumple con mantenimiento y pago obreros. ( cosa que dudo porque se que llevan una competencia a muerte LANCHILE-AEROCONTINENTE )

Donde quiera que se va Aerocontinente se va Lan Chile y donde quiera que se va Lan Chile se va Aerocontinete, ( Lan Chile-Aerocontinente Chile, Lan Peru-Aerocontinente, Aerocontinente Dominicana-Lan Dominicana, se esta formalizando Lan Panama y yá tambien esta la otra alla para formalizar Aerocontinente Panamá. hmmmm o o o

[Transat]

I think this is it for them.
Hope i'am wrong, but right now they will be in bad economic posture after this!
Hope everything will be ok for them.

[GRS]

Passengers say that airline overbook flights

Listin Diario, June 15th Edition
RAFAEL I CASTRATE
AIRPORT Las AMéRICAS. -

Tens of passengers who acquired aerial tickets to travel to Miami, in a flight of the airline Continent Aero, accused yesterday that company to have sobresold tickets and to leave beached them in the airport the Américas Jose Francisco Rock Go'mez. Although most of them they had urgency to travel towards the North American city.
The travellers congregated yesterday in front of the office of the airline, located in the third level of the airport the Américas, demanding of the executives of the Continent Aero who fulfill their responsibility to guarantee their transfer to them to Miami, so and as they committed themselves when they sold tickets to them.
They explained that when the past reached Friday the seven in the morning to the counters from the air line of the airport the Américas, the employees of the referred airline communicated to him that flight 202 in which they were going to travel had been cancelled without offering greater explanations on the matter leaving beached more than sixty passengers.
They also indicated, the complaining ones that although the previous flight left the day that is to say, Thursday twenty passengers could not travel because supposedly the airline had sobresold the aerial tickets over the capacity of the airplane that use soon in their regular routes from Suramérica towards the country and to Miami.
The air line, nevertheless, was offering transport facilities to him and lodging in hotels of the capital to the travellers who were beached yesterday in the airport the Américas, Jose Francisco Pena Go'mez, after the suspension of their operations until as much standardizes the operations and ' ' these can be transported ' '.


PASSENGERS COMPLAIN

Whereas the Julissa young person Tuesday, one of the affected passengers whom a ticket of Continent Aero acquired narrated that she was two consecutive leaving to three of the dawn of his house to arrive on time at the airport, exposing itself inclusively has to suffer any accident or vandalic act in the freeway the Américas, to be well early and to be of first in checking itself nevertheless and, it has not been able to travel.
' ' This is an irresponsibility of the executives of this air line that what it seems is that the tickets have happened and now it does not count on equipment available to transfer the passengers, although these took responsibility to on time transport them to their destiny '', maintained the lady, who noticed a little irritated.
The executives of the air line refused to explain to the airport journalists the reasons that motivated to the airline has to cancel their flight to Miami yesterday, leaving to tens of passengers beached in the airport terminal.
He extended despite, that the operation would have been cancelled because the air line single account with two airplanes and one of it has been being damaged for several weeks in the area of parking of airships of the airport the Américas.
The travellers demanded of the airline that will endorse aerial tickets to him to another aerial company that way they to be able to travel to Miami, in view of which already they had two days been left in the airport the Américas in spite of the urgency which they had in traveling to North American territory to take care of commitments and obligations that they had predicted.
Many of the passengers who were beached yesterday in the airport terminal came from towns of the rear area, such as the Fertile valley, Bonao, Santiago, of the Horsemen, Plata Mount, San Pedro de Macorís, Baní and of sectors of the city of Santo Domingo.
' ' We are spending money and time having to transfer to us every day from towns of the rear area, to the airport and when we arrived here they do not say the people of the line that the flight has been cancelled expressed Petronila de Jesus who declared that there is lost the illusion and the interest to travel due to the misfortune.
Between the travellers who could not travel by the cancellation of the flight of Continent the Aero airline appear Ana Celestial Julia, Petronila de Jesus, Earthly Michael, Mirian Burden, Juan Pimentel, Pedro Antonio Cleto, Eddy Romero, Romero Haze, Francisco Martinez, Rafael Solano Perez, Maria González Fri'as, Matilde Castle, Elizabeth Pimentel and others more.

It is not well translated. I used a search engine, for the transaltion of the page.