Austral Líneas Aéreas

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Austral
IATA AU	ICAO AUT	Callsign AUSTRAL
Founded		1971
Hubs		Jorge Newbery Domestic Airport
Frequent flyer program		Aerolíneas Plus
Member lounge		VIP Lounge
Fleet size		16
Destinations		30
Parent company		Interinvest
Headquarters		Buenos Aires, Argentina
Key people		Gonzalo Pascual & Gerardo Díaz (Marsans)(CEO)
Website: http://www.austral.com.ar

Austral Lineas Aereas is an airline based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the sister company of Aerolíneas Argentinas and is the second largest domestic scheduled airline in Argentina. Its main base is Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, Buenos Aires^[1].

Contents 1 History 2 Incidents and accidents 3 Fleet 4 External links 5 References

[edit] History

The airline was established in June 1971 from the merger of Austral Compania Argentina de Transportes Aereos and Aerotransportes Litoral Argentino (ALA). It was acquired by Cielos del Sur, a holding company, in 1987. Following the privatisation of Aerolíneas 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^[1].

[edit] Incidents and accidents

The worst crash in Austral's history is Flight 2553, which occurred in October 1997 when a Douglas DC-9-32 reg. LV-WEG crashed near Fray Bentos, Uruguay. En route from Posadas to Buenos Aires as AU2553. ^[2]

[edit] Fleet

The Austral fleet includes the following aircraft (at March 2007)^[1] :

• 7 Boeing B737-200
• 11 Boeing 737-500
• 2 McDonnell Douglas MD-81
• 1 McDonnell Douglas MD-82
• 9 McDonnell Douglas MD-83
• 3 McDonnell Douglas MD-88

[edit] External links

• Austral Líneas Aéreas

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Flight International 27 March 2007
2. ^ Aviation Safety Network.