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AeroRepublica
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Aero Republica is an airline based in Bogota, Colombia. It is the second largest air carrier in Colombia behind Colombian flag carrier Avianca. It operates scheduled services from Bogota to 11 domestic destinations and to Panama, as well as domestic and international charter services to the USA and the Caribbean. Its main base is El Dorado International Airport, Bogota, with a hub at Jose Maria Cordova International Airport, Medellin.
== History ==The airline was established on November 23, 1992 by founders Amos Ginor and Alfonso Avila. It started operations on June 19, 1993 with a fleet of 3 Boeing B727-100 aircraft, between Bogota, D.C. El Dorado International Airport, Cartagena and Santa Marta, as well as the offshore Colombian island of San Andres. It was the first new airline in Colombia for over 25 years when it began trading in 1993. Plans were announced to begin international services to the USA in 1997, but these never came to fruition.
Aero Republica's corporate headquarters were located in Bogota, Colombia. A third of the airline was owned by Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela and the rest by Promotora de Inversiones Superior (at January 2005). On June 1, 2005, Copa Airlines, Panama's flag carrier, announced that it had purchased 90% of Aero Republica after having announced plans to codeshare with them. With this purchase the whole board of directors was replaced. The airline is now owned by Copa Holdings, S.A. (99.8%) and Promotora de Inversiones Superior (at March 2007).
A fleet modernisation process took place replacing the MD-80s with Embraer E-jets. This allowed the airline to create a more flexible schedule due to the reduction in capacity (the MD-90 seats around 150 while the E-190 seats around 100 in an all-coach configuration). The airline started flying to Panama City from several points in the country and recently started its second international destination, Caracas.
In September 2007 Alfonso Avila, former president of AeroRepublica (now Aero Republica) established a new regional carrier named EasyFly.
Destinations
AeroRepublcia provides service to 12 cities in Colombia and 3 international destinations.
Central America and the Caribbean
Cuba
* La Havana (Jose Marti International Airport) [Begins May 18]
Panama
* Panama City (Tocumen International Airport)
Dominican Republic
* Punta Cana (Punta Cana International Airport) (charter on Saturday)
South America
Colombia
*Barranquilla (Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport)
*Bogota, D.C. (El Dorado International Airport)
*Bucaramanga (Palonegro International Airport)
*Cali (Alfonso Bonilla Aragon International Airport)
*Cartagena (Rafael Nunez International Airport)
*Cucuta (Camilo Daza International Airport)
*Leticia (Vasquez Cobo International Airport)
*Medellin (Jose Maria Cordova International Airport)
*Monteria (Los Garzones Airport)
*Pereira (Matecana International Airport)
*San Andres (Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport)
*Santa Marta (Simon Bolivar International Airport)
Ecuador
* Quito (Mariscal Sucre International Airport)
* Guayaquil (Jose Joaquin de Olmedo International Airport) [Begins March 26]
Venezuela
* Caracas (Simon Bolivar International Airport)
* Porlamar (Del Caribe International Airport) (seasonal charter)
North America
USA
* Miami, Florida (Miami International Airport ) (Soon)
Fleet
Aero Republica's fleet consists of the following aircrafts (as February 2010)
AeroRepublica's fleet modernization and expansion plan includes firm orders for 4 additional Embraer 190 aircraft (3 signed from GECAS and 1 from manufacturer), as well as options for 20 additional aircraft.
On October 18, 2006 announced that it has signed with GE Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS) a lease agreement for an E-190 aircraft to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2007. This agreement increases AeroRepublica's delivery commitments to eight Embraer E-190 aircraft through 2007, three of which will be leased through GECAS and five purchased directly form the manufacturer. In addition to these commitments, AeroRepublica has options and purchase rights for twenty additional E-190 aircraft through 2011. Further more, AeroRepublica is considering of taking two 737-700s from its sister airline COPA as they are also replacing some of their older 737s.
OnePass
OnePass is the Aero Republica frequent flyer program through a partnership with Continental Airlines. Customers accumulate miles from flight segments they fly through Aero Republica, Copa Airlines, Continental Airlines or other partners. OnePass elite tiers are Silver, Gold, and Platinum Elite which have benefits such as mileage bonus, priority check-in, priority seats and priority boarding.
== Codeshare Agreements ==
Continental Airlines
Copa Airlines
Air France and KLM
Incidents and accidents
On 8 January 2005 an AeroRepublica McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft overran the runway at Cali's Alfonso Bonilla Aragon International Airport, Colombia, and the landing gear separated. There were no fatalities among the 6 crew and 164 passengers.
On 17 July 2007, AeroRepublica flight 7330, an Embraer ERJ-190 aircraft, overshot the runway at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Santa Marta, went down an embankment, and ended up with the front end of the aircraft in the ocean. There were no fatalities.
External links
Aero Republica official website
Aero Republica official website
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article AeroRepublica
