Empresa de Transporte Aéreo del Perú S.A., usually known as Aeroperú, was a Peruvian airline, serving as flag carrier of Peru from 1973 to 1999. The company was headquartered in Lima, with the city's Jorge Chavez International Airport serving as its hub. Besides an extensive domestic route network, Aeroperú offered international flights to places in Latin America and the United States of America. The company had around 1,500 employees.
Aeroperú was formed on May 22, 1973, following the reorganization of SATCO, an earlier airline founded on 1960 and controlled by the Peruvian Army. Initially a wholly state-owned company with a fleet of three Fokker F28 Fellowships taken over from SATCO, revenue flights were commenced in October on the Lima-Cusco route. Soon, a Boeing 727 joined the fleet, and the airline placed an order for two new Fokker F27 Friendships. In 1974, two Douglas DC-8s were acquired from Viasa, which allowed the launch of international routes. The inaugural international flight to Buenos Aires took place on 29 July of that year, soon followed by a scheduled service to Miami. By 1978, the Aeroperú network had grown to include a multitude of destinations in Latin America, and also the US cities of New York and Los Angeles due to their large Latino populations.
In July 1981, Aeroperú was gradually privatized, with the Peruvian government keeping a minority share of 20%. In 1982, plans were made for a merger with Faucett Perú, the other large passenger airline in the country at that time. As a preparatory measure, redundancies in the route networks of the two airlines were removed, so that Aeroperú had to suspend flights to a number of destinations, including Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, New York City and Los Angeles. No further steps were taken towards merging the two airlines, and so in 1983 flights to several destinations recommenced. A bilateral air traffic agreement between Peru and the United States expired on 11 November 1983. Because of disagreements over the granting of fifth freedom rights, all flights between the two countries were suspended in May 1984 until mid-1985, which affected Aeroperú's Lima-Miami route.
In 1993, Aeroméxico acquired 70 percent of the shares worth $54 million, thus making Aeroperú its subsidiary. Subsequently two Boeing 757-200 airliners were transferred, allowing Aeroperú to replace their ageing DC-8s. In 1996, 47 percent of Aeroperú was transferred to Cintra, the parent company of Aeroméxico and Mexicana de Aviación. In 1998, Delta Air Lines became a major shareholder of Aeroperú, when they acquired a 35 percent stake in the airline. The agreement saw Cintra reducing their share to an equal 35 percent.
Aeroperú was forced to suspend all flight operations on March 10, 1999. According to general director Jaan Albrecht, Aeroperu's debt by 1999 had reached $174 million, while the airline's tangible assets were worth only $50 million. Several plans for a relaunch were made, which included a possible buy-in of Continental Airlines or a takeover by a group of foreign investors. None of these materialized, and Aeroperú was liquidated on 18 August 1999. Most of its route network as well as the role of Peruvian flag carrier was taken over by newly founded LAN Perú.
With Jorge Chavez International Airport being its most important hub, Aeroperú maintained an extensive domestic route network. International flights were offered to a number of cities in Latin America, as well as the United States.
Over the years, Aeroperú operated the following aircraft types:
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