Sky Airline
Sky Airline, styled as SꓘY, is an airline based at Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Santiago, Chile. It is the second largest airline in the country behind flag-carrier LATAM Airlines and the first airline to operate under a low-cost model in the country. It serves international routes to Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Uruguay. It also operates charter flights in Chile and South America and domestic flights within Peru. History. Sky Airline was controlled by its founder, Jürgen Paulmann (1930–2014), a German-Chilean businessman, brother of retail billionaire Horst Paulmann. It started operations in December  2001 and made the first flights from Santiago to Northern Chile in June 2002. Since 2005 is a full member of IATA. In April 2009, the company signed an agreement with Aerolíneas Argentinas, allowing the Argentinean flag carrier to offer in all its commercial offices and through its electronic ticket system most of the destinations covered by Sky Airline in Chile. In 2011 it signed a codeshare agreement with TACA for domestic flights in Chile, Peru and between both countries. In 2012 it signed a codeshare agreement with TACA's parent company, Colombia's Avianca for operations between Chile and  Colombia. The airline planned to transition to a low-cost carrier model during 2015 and 2016 to reduce costs. On October 2, 2021, Sky Airline announced that it will merge with Avianca to create a mega low-cost carrier by 2022. Awards. Sky Airline was named the Best Regional Airline in South America in the 2014, 2015 and 2016 Skytrax World Airline Awards. In addition, OAG (Official Airline Guide) declared Sky Airline as the most punctual airline of 2016. Maintenance. Maintenance services are supplied by AIRMAN, a sister maintenance company based in Santiago Airport. Fleet. Current fleet. The Sky Airline  fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of September 2021): Former fleet. Since its beginnings, Sky Airline operated a 100% Boeing 737 fleet, these began to be replaced by Airbus A320 family planes in 2010 and were fully withdrawn in 2013.