Austral Líneas Aéreas
Cielos del Sur S.A., operating as Austral Líneas Aéreas, more commonly known by its shortened name Austral, was a domestic airline of Argentina, the sister company of Aerolíneas Argentinas. It was the second-largest domestic scheduled airline in the country, after Aerolíneas Argentinas. As a subsidiary of Aerolíneas Argentinas, the company shared its headquarters with that airline, which is located in the Aeroparque Jorge Newbery of Buenos Aires, the main base of operations of the company.
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Founded | 1957 (as Compañía Austral de Transportes Aéreos) | ||||||
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Commenced operations | January 1958 | ||||||
Ceased operations | 30 November 2020 (operations folded into Aerolíneas Argentinas) | ||||||
Hubs | Buenos Aires–Aeroparque | ||||||
Frequent-flyer program | Aerolíneas Plus | ||||||
Alliance | SkyTeam (Affiliate) | ||||||
Subsidiaries | Inter Austral (currently defunct) | ||||||
Fleet size | 26 | ||||||
Destinations | 22 | ||||||
Parent company | Aerolíneas Argentinas (100%) | ||||||
Headquarters | Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||||||
Key people | Mario Dell'Acqua (President) | ||||||
Revenue | US$ 428.31 million (FY 2017) | ||||||
Net income | US$ –149.61 million (FY 2017) | ||||||
Total assets | US$ 494.61 million (FY 2017) | ||||||
Employees | 1,826 | ||||||
Website | austral.com.ar |
Austral was currently fully integrated into Aerolíneas Argentinas; however, some differences arise, especially those relying upon the unions the staff of both companies are affiliated to, which led to constant conflicts. In May 2020 it was announced that Austral would merge with Aerolíneas, saving an estimated 100 million US Dollars and eliminating Austral as a brand. Austral ended operations on 30 November 2020.
As of October 2013, the airline operated an all-Embraer 190 fleet.