LanPeru seeks to expand rapidly its new domestic operation, with international services to Miami and the surrounding region on its agenda. The airline could face delay, however, as AeroPeru, the bankrupt national carrier that is LanPeru's direct competitor, is given another 60-day extension by creditors to find financial backers.
The LanChile-backed Peruvian start-up plans to add a leased Boeing 767-300ER in October and wants to operate from Lima to Miami in the USA, Buenos Aires in Argentina and other regional destinations. Much, however, hinges on the fate of AeroPeru which has been grounded since early this year.
"It all depends on what happens to AeroPeru's routes, which are basically frozen. The government has given AeroPeru 60 more days to revive itself-but once an airline has not operated a route for 90 days, legally, it no longer has rights to that route," says LanPeru president Lorenzo Sousa Debarbieri.
The issue is politically complicated by the fact that the government is one of the creditors which agreed to the prolonged extension, now beyond its 12 July deadline. The move was prompted by a last-minute proposal from AeroPeru employees for an $80 million capital injection.
It is unclear from where the staff, which own 5% of the carrier's equity, will raise the financing. Two other offers from local private operator Aero Continente and a little-known US spares vendor Aviation Power Supplies are on the table, but are not considered to have much chance of success.
LanPeru, in the meantime, plans to add a second pair of dry leased Boeing 737-200Advs in September and will launch new domestic services to three more destinations, beyond its existing network from Lima to Cuzco and Arequipa.
LanChile, which owns a 49% stake, provides LanPeru with a daily connecting international service to Santiago, technical support and access to its reservation system.
• Peru's second start-up carrier TransAm has been granted an operator's certificate to begin flying domestically and plans to start within the next 30 days with two Grupo TACA-owned A320s. The airline is also pressing Lima for the right to fly international flights.
Source: Flight International
