I am very glad that LAN CHILE is coming to Dominican market, their presence in PUJ until today was not that important , 1 -2 weekly flights were operated mostly for travellers from Chile to PUJ. It took LAN CHILE 6 years to enter to SDQ MIA route, I remember one presentation in ADAVIT in 1996 where representatives of LAN CHILE announced upcoming operations SCL SDQ MIA, so now we are in 2003 and it is about to happen.
Speaking about LAN's chances, well, first of all it is very good airline, perfcet service, modern fleet etc. For their beginning here they have 3 flights to MIA, actually this is what killed Aerocontinente, 3 flights per week, in this case passengers had to fly days Aerocontinente was available, that way they've lost like 70% of passengers, if I go to MIA on Monday and want to come back on Saturday, why do I have to change my plans? But Aerocontinente compensated it with extremely low fares. I don't think LAN will provide that cheap flights, it is not a cheap carrier. So they have to increase frequency immediately. Even Aeromar had to find another plane for daily flights to MIA. You can't fly 3 times a week beside AA that operates 4 daily direct and many connections via SJU.
LAN has magnificent advantage, they are part of ONE WORLD, so flying on LAN you can get your miles in AAdvantage, this is outstanding. LAN has magnificent reputation, they don't need to get money from this route immediately because this is their only route and tomorrow is a day to pay the lease. So chances of LAN are high, but only in case if they will think twice, if they want to make expiriments, to fly domestic routes, to creates HUBS that nobody needs, well you know what will happen then. What kind of HUB can we have in SDQ while SJU and PTY are still in business?
Actually nobody knows what will happen to LAN in Dominicana, their future is in hands of dominicans who will make a choice. Aerocontinente helped American Airlines, passengers now prefer solid airlines that will last, those adventure carriers only make damages, they cause the lack of trust to new airlines.
Let's remember the expirience of Mexicana Airlines on SDQ MIA route, it was brillinat service, newest A320, so what happened, where is it now? All gone!
So I think that the future of LAN is uncertain, of course their fares in the beginning will be extremely low, a lot of promos, but until they don't have daily service to MIA they can't be a real competition to AA. Even Aeromar has better option on this route, they'll provide daily service.
Time will judge Lan, let's wait.
Speaking about LAN's chances, well, first of all it is very good airline, perfcet service, modern fleet etc. For their beginning here they have 3 flights to MIA, actually this is what killed Aerocontinente, 3 flights per week, in this case passengers had to fly days Aerocontinente was available, that way they've lost like 70% of passengers, if I go to MIA on Monday and want to come back on Saturday, why do I have to change my plans? But Aerocontinente compensated it with extremely low fares. I don't think LAN will provide that cheap flights, it is not a cheap carrier. So they have to increase frequency immediately. Even Aeromar had to find another plane for daily flights to MIA. You can't fly 3 times a week beside AA that operates 4 daily direct and many connections via SJU.
LAN has magnificent advantage, they are part of ONE WORLD, so flying on LAN you can get your miles in AAdvantage, this is outstanding. LAN has magnificent reputation, they don't need to get money from this route immediately because this is their only route and tomorrow is a day to pay the lease. So chances of LAN are high, but only in case if they will think twice, if they want to make expiriments, to fly domestic routes, to creates HUBS that nobody needs, well you know what will happen then. What kind of HUB can we have in SDQ while SJU and PTY are still in business?
Actually nobody knows what will happen to LAN in Dominicana, their future is in hands of dominicans who will make a choice. Aerocontinente helped American Airlines, passengers now prefer solid airlines that will last, those adventure carriers only make damages, they cause the lack of trust to new airlines.
Let's remember the expirience of Mexicana Airlines on SDQ MIA route, it was brillinat service, newest A320, so what happened, where is it now? All gone!
So I think that the future of LAN is uncertain, of course their fares in the beginning will be extremely low, a lot of promos, but until they don't have daily service to MIA they can't be a real competition to AA. Even Aeromar has better option on this route, they'll provide daily service.
Time will judge Lan, let's wait.