MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lan resumes 15% of flights; priority bringing to Santiago stranded passengers

Santiago airport is LAN’s hub for South American flights

Beginning Tuesday Lan Airlines resumes flying a skeleton national and international schedule out of a tent at the Santiago airport, according to a short notice from the Chilean flag carrier company.

Though the country's largest airline landed flights in the Arturo Martinez International airport in the days after the quake, a damaged terminal prevented them from screening passengers for departure.

“We are working to resume flights but only 15% of domestic and international operations”, said Ignacio Cueto, Lan General Manager. “The situation is still far from normal”.

“Our priority it to fly back to Santiago all those passengers that have been affected by the cancelling of flights”, said Cueto. ”Friday is a tentative date for resumption of schedules”, he added.

Though its offices weren't harmed by the quake, the Lan airline's computer server and customer call centre both went dark after the quake, a spokeswoman said. Both have been restored but logistical challenges remain.

One of the biggest problems: Lan ran many of its connecting flights in South America through Santiago, its top hub. The system left stranded an unknown number of passengers at various airports across the region.

On Tuesday morning, Lan expects to take over a makeshift terminal set up in tents outside the airport. The runways were not damaged, a Lan spokeswoman said.

The airline is not selling any new tickets for flights coming in or out of Santiago through Sunday, but anticipated all travellers unable to fly have until March 30, cost free to reschedule tickets.