MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Sky Airline and Air Comet consolidate flights to Pta. Arenas

Air Comet which has been flying to Punta Arenas in the extreme south of Chile since December 2004 will cease to operate in the area after having reached a commercial and operational alliance with Sky Airline.

Enrique Meliá, Air Comet regional manager in Punta Arenas made the official announcement this week adding that the alliance will enable consolidation of routes, offices, air traffic and other aspects of the business. "This does not mean we're leaving Chile, but rather a change in the structure of the company following our alliance with Sky Airline. In the immediate this means that all ticket holders will have them transferred to Sky", said Meliá. "With our ally Sky we are going to pool efforts, synergize costs, savings and this way make both companies far more efficient and cost effective", pointed out Meliá. The alliance is supposed to help diversify timetables and improve flight options taking advantage of air capacity. "Before we flew to the same destination as Sky, both leaving at the same time early morning and returning to Punta Arenas at night, but with the arrangement we could even increase the daily flight options". Meliá also revealed that the new association plans to fly overseas, possibly, Lima, Peru and Buenos Aires "so we can connect with the Air Comet flights from Madrid". "This arrangement could help us increase the number of flights from Santiago to Lima from four to seven, and to Buenos Aires, from five to seven. "It's indifferent whether the new association is Air Comet, Sky Airline or Skycomet, what matters are the benefits from the alliance. With Air Comet abandoning the Santiago-Punta Arenas route, the service is now limited to two air carriers, Lan Airlines and Sky Airlines. Sky Airline is an entirely Chilean company whose main shareholder is Jürgen Paulmann which has a fleet of Boeing 737/200 Advanced and carries an average 50.000 passengers per month. Air Comet belongs to the Spanish tourism group Marsans, the same that had control over Aerolineas Argentinas, which the Argentine government is in the process of taking over.