- Austral Líneas Aéreas
Infobox_Airline
airline=Austral
logo=austral-logo.png
logo_size=130
fleet_size=22
destinations=30
IATA=AU
ICAO=AUT
callsign=AUSTRAL
parent=Interinvest
founded=1971
headquarters=Buenos Aires ,Argentina
hubs=Jorge Newbery Airport
frequent_flyer=Aerolíneas Plus
lounge=VIP Lounge
key_people=Gonzalo Pascual & Gerardo Díaz (Marsans)(CEO )
alliance=
website= http://www.austral.com.arAustral Líneas Aereas is an
airline based inBuenos Aires ,Argentina . It is the sister company ofAerolíneas Argentinas and is the second largest domestic scheduled airline in Argentina. Its main base isAeroparque Jorge Newbery , Buenos Airescite news | title= Directory: World Airlines | work=Flight International | page= 80 | date= 2007-03-27] .History
The airline was established in June 1971 from the merger of Austral Compañía Argentina de Transportes Aéreos and
Aerotransportes Litoral Argentino (ALA). At that time its fleet consisted onNAMC YS-11 turboprop andBAC One-Eleven jet liners.It was acquired by Cielos del Sur, a holding company, in 1987. Following the privatisation ofAerolíneas Argentinas in 1990, Cielos del Sur and Iberia both took holdings, but these have since been disposed of. In 2001 Grupo Marsans acquired a majority holding.On
21 July 2008 , the Argentine government took the airline back into state control after acquiring 99.4% of the share capital for an undisclosed price. The remaining 0.6% continues to be owned by the company's employees [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7519069.stm]On
3 September 2008 Argentina's Senate approved the nationalization of Aerolíneas Argentinas and its subsidiary Austral Líneas Aéreas on a 46-21 vote in favor of the takeover. [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/04/business/LA-Argentina-Airline-Nationalization.php International Herald Tribune] ]Incidents and accidents
The worst crash in Austral's history is Flight 2553, which occurred in October 1997 when a
Douglas DC-9-32 registration LV-WEG crashed nearFray Bentos ,Uruguay traveling from Posadas to Buenos Aires as AU2553. [cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19971010-0&lang=en|title=Aviation Safety Network]Fleet
The Austral Líneas Aéreas fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of
29 August 2008 ) [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=AU&al_op=1] :*1
McDonnell Douglas MD-81
*1McDonnell Douglas MD-82
*12McDonnell Douglas MD-83
*8McDonnell Douglas MD-88 (three aicraft are leased fromAeroméxico )As of
29 August 2008 , the average age of the Austral Líneas Aéreas fleet is 18 years ( [ [http://www.airfleets.net/ageflotte/Austral.htm Airfleets.net] ] ).External links
* [http://www.austral.com.ar Austral Líneas Aéreas]
References
See also
*
List of BAC One-Eleven operators
*List of NAMC YS-11 operators
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.