| Airline: | SAETA |
| Fleet Size: | 7 |
| Destinations: | 19 |
| Iata: | EH |
| Icao: | SET |
| Callsign: | SAETA |
| Founded: | 1966 |
| Ceased: | February 2000 |
| Headquarters: | Quito, Ecuador |
| Hubs: | Old Mariscal Sucre International Airport |
| Secondary Hubs: | José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport |
| Frequent Flyer: | ADDmiles |
| Subsidiaries: | SAN Ecuador |
SAETA Air Ecuador (legally Sociedad Anónima Ecuatoriana de Transportes Aéreos S.A.) was a privately held airline of Ecuador, which was founded in 1966. During its heyday in the 1990s, it flew to numerous destinations in North and South America from its base in Guayaquil.
SAETA was founded in Quito in 1966, later the company headquarters were relocated to Guayaquil. The main owners were the Dunn family.
In addition to domestic flights, SAETA operated routes in North, Central and South America. It preferred flights to Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, Panamá, Caracas, Bogotá, Lima, Santiago and Buenos Aires.
In 1990, SAETA took over the Ecuadorian airline SAN, increasing frequencies and fleet for national and international flights. The airline later in 1994 took over LAPSA from Paraguay, operated with an Ecuadorian-Paraguayan Consortium until being sold to TAM Linhas Aereas in 1996. Political instability in the country and currency devaluation led to a decline in passenger numbers. This was followed by the cancellation of flights to the United States of America due to the loss of the approach permit for Category 1 airports.
By the mid-1990s, events such as political instability and the devaluation of the currency, damaged SAETA, which caused a reduction in passengers, added to the cancellation of flights to the United States due to the loss of category 1 of the Ecuadorian aeronautical authority since 1993, accelerating its decline. Both SAN and SAETA had serious security breaches, which resulted in the loss of several flights.
In February 2000, SAETA ended its flight operations after severe financial problems following the 1998–1999 Ecuador economic crisis.[1]
SAETA had operated the following aircraft since it commenced operations:[2] [3]
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A310-300 | 2 | 1992 | 1996 | ||
| Airbus A320-200 | 4 | 1994 | 1999 | ||
| Boeing 707-320C | 1 | 1985 | 1993 | ||
| Boeing 727-100 | 2 | 1981 | 2000 | ||
| Boeing 727-200 | 3 | 1991 | 2000 | ||
| Boeing 737-200 | 1 | 1994 | 1995 | ||
| Boeing 737-300 | 2 | 1994 | 2000 | ||
| Douglas C-47 Skytrain | 3 | 1967 | 1976 | ||
| Sud Aviation Caravelle | 4 | 1975 | 1986 | ||
| Vickers Viscount 700 | 4 | 1969 | 1980 |