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Founded | 1966 | ||||||
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Ceased operations | February 2000 | ||||||
Hubs | Old Mariscal Sucre International Airport | ||||||
Secondary hubs | José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport | ||||||
Frequent-flyer program | ADDmiles | ||||||
Subsidiaries | SAN Ecuador | ||||||
Fleet size | 7 | ||||||
Destinations | 19 | ||||||
Headquarters | Quito, Ecuador | ||||||
Website | www |
SAETA Air Ecuador (legally Sociedad Anónima Ecuatoriana de Transportes Aéreos S.A.) was a privately held airline of Ecuador, which was founded in 1966. During its heyday in the 1990s, it flew to numerous destinations in North and South America from its base in Guayaquil.
SAETA was founded in Quito in 1966, later the company headquarters were relocated to Guayaquil. The main owners were the Dunn family.
In addition to domestic flights, SAETA operated routes in North, Central and South America. It preferred flights to Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, Panama City, Caracas, Bogotá, Lima, Santiago and Buenos Aires.
In 1990, SAETA took over the Ecuadorian airline SAN, increasing frequencies and fleet for national and international flights. The airline later in 1994 took over LAPSA from Paraguay, operated with an Ecuadorian-Paraguayan Consortium until being sold to TAM Linhas Aereas in 1996. Political instability in the country and currency devaluation led to a decline in passenger numbers. This was followed by the cancellation of flights to the United States of America due to the loss of the approach permit for Category 1 airports.
By the mid-1990s, events such as political instability and the devaluation of the currency, damaged SAETA, which caused a reduction in passengers, added to the cancellation of flights to the United States due to the loss of category 1 of the Ecuadorian aeronautical authority since 1993, accelerating its decline. Both SAN and SAETA had serious security breaches, which resulted in the loss of several flights.
In February 2000, SAETA ended its flight operations after severe financial problems following the 1998–1999 Ecuador economic crisis. [1]
SAETA had operated the following aircraft since it commenced operations: [2] [3]
Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Airbus A310-300 | 2 | 1992 | 1996 | |
Airbus A320-200 | 4 | 1994 | 1999 | |
Boeing 707-320C | 1 | 1985 | 1993 | |
Boeing 727-100 | 2 | 1981 | 2000 | |
Boeing 727-200 | 3 | 1991 | 2000 | |
Boeing 737-200 | 1 | 1994 | 1995 | |
Boeing 737-300 | 2 | 1994 | 2000 | |
Douglas C-47 Skytrain | 3 | 1967 | 1976 | |
Sud Aviation Caravelle | 4 | 1975 | 1986 | |
Vickers Viscount 700 | 4 | 1969 | 1980 |
TAME or TAME EP Linea Aerea del Ecuador was an airline founded in Ecuador in 1962. TAME was the flag carrier and the largest airline of Ecuador. TAME headquarters were in Quito, Pichincha Province and the main hub was Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito. The airline was formed by the Air Force of Ecuador. In 2011, it became a commercial entity and provided domestic, international and charter flights. On May 20, 2020, the Ecuadorean government decided to cease all operations and liquidate the airline.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1977.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1978.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1979.
José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport is an international airport serving Guayaquil, the capital of the Guayas Province and the most populous city in Ecuador. It is the second busiest airport in Ecuador.
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The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 were versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined, turboprop, passenger aircraft manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to the standard Fokker F27, while the FH-227 was an independently developed, stretched version.
Empresa Ecuatoriana de Aviación, more commonly known as simply Ecuatoriana, was the national airline of Ecuador. The carrier had an operational hiatus between September 1993 and August 1995, resuming operations on 23 June 1996, after VASP became the controlling shareholder. The airline folded permanently in 2006.
Icaro Air was an airline based in Quito, Ecuador. Its main base was Mariscal Sucre International Airport, Quito.
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Mariscal Sucre International Airport(IATA: UIO, ICAO: SEQU) was the main international airport that served Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador. It was the busiest airport in Ecuador by passenger traffic, by aircraft movement and by cargo movement, and one of the busiest airports in South America. It was named after Venezuelan-born Antonio José de Sucre, a hero of Ecuadorian and Latin American independence. It began operations on August 5, 1960, and during its last years of operation, handled about 6.2 million passengers and 164,000 metric tons of freight per year. The airport, one of the highest in the world was located in the northern part of the city, in the Chaupicruz parish, within five minutes of Quito's financial center; the terminals were located at the intersection of Amazonas and La Prensa avenues. Mariscal Sucre International was the largest hub for TAME with an average of 50 daily departures.
SAETA Flight 011 was a scheduled passenger flight operated by SAETA Air Ecuador between Quito and Cuenca, using a Vickers Viscount 785D aircraft. On 15 August 1976, the flight was reported missing near the Chimborazo stratovolcano while carrying 55 passengers and four crew members. Searches for the plane would be carried out for 26 years, until the wreckage of the aircraft was officially located in February 2003.
Mariscal Lamar International Airport is a high elevation airport serving Cuenca, the capital of the Azuay Province in Ecuador. It is named after the Peruvian military leader and politician José de la Mar, a native of Cuenca.
SAN was an airline which was based in Guayaquil, Ecuador that was the domestic branch of the airline SAETA. It was founded in 1964, and ceased operations in 1999.
TAME Flight 173, a Boeing 737-2V2 Advanced operated by Ecuador's national airline TAME, flying on a domestic route from the now-closed Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito to Mariscal Lamar International Airport in Cuenca, crashed on 11 July 1983 into a hill during final approach just 1 mile from its final destination, killing all 119 people on board.
Avianca Ecuador S.A. is an airline based in Quito, Ecuador. It operates passenger and cargo flights within Ecuador, between the mainland and the Galápagos Islands, and between Ecuador and Colombia. It is one of the seven nationally branded airlines in the Avianca Group of Latin American airlines.
Mariscal Sucre International Airport is an international airport serving Quito, Ecuador. It is the busiest airport in Ecuador. It is located in the Tababela parish, about 18 kilometres (11 mi) east of Quito, and because of its location it is also colloquially known as Tababela Airport. The airport currently serves as the main hub for Avianca Ecuador and the largest hub for LATAM Ecuador. It also served as the main hub for TAME, Ecuador's flag-carrier, before the airline was liquidated by the Ecuadorian government in 2020. The airport opened in February 2013 and replaced the 53-year old airport of the same name. The airport is named after independence leader Antonio José de Sucre. It was the first 5-star airport in the Western Hemisphere as rated by Skytrax.
On 23 April 1979, SAETA Flight 011, a Vickers Viscount passenger aircraft of Ecuadorian airline SAETA, crashed in a mountainous region of Pastaza Province, Ecuador, killing all 57 people on board. The wreckage of the aircraft was not found until five years later.