| Airline: | SATENA |
| Fleet Size: | 13 |
| Destinations: | 42 |
| Iata: | 9R |
| Icao: | NSE |
| Callsign: | SATENA |
| Parent: | Colombian Aerospace Force |
| Headquarters: | El Dorado International Airport, Bogotá, Colombia |
| Key People: | Brigadier General Óscar Zuluaga Castaño |
| Hubs: | El Dorado International Airport |
| Secondary Hubs: | Olaya Herrera Airport |
| Founder: | Alberto Lleras Camargo |
SATENA (Spanish acronym of Servicio Aéreo a Territorios Nacionales) is a Colombian airline based in Bogotá, Colombia.[1] [2] [3] [4] It is majority-owned by the Government of Colombia which operates it with a goal of providing connectivity to less connected areas of the country.
Its main hub is El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá. It also maintains a secondary hub at Olaya Herrera Airport in Medellín.
SATENA was first established on April 12, 1962, by the President of the Republic, Alberto Lleras Camargo, who created the airline using Decree 940 in order.
"to form an aerial transport service for the benefit of the underdeveloped regions of the country, with the object of promoting the welfare of educational campaigns, agricultural and pastoral development and the economic and social progress of such territories."
In order to achieve this under government auspices, the airline was then entrusted to the control of the Colombian Air Force, initiating its first operations with the routes Bogotá - Leticia and Leticia – Tarapacá – El Encanto – Puerto Leguízamo. The Government equipped the company with one C-54, two C-47, two Beaver L-20, and later added two PBY Catalina amphibious, the property of the Rotary Fund of the Colombian Air Force. Later, in 1964, it added three additional C-47 and two more C-54 aircraft, all of them donated by the United States International Development Agency.
In 1965, SATENA, in coordination with the Bank of Bogotá, began a new service named AeroBanco, which was created to facilitate air travel to other areas largely or completely inaccessible by road. Due to great success in the areas served by the airline, President Carlos Lleras Restrepo put into effect Law 80 of December 12, 1968, where it was decreed that SATENA would be treated as a public establishment, with all legal functions controlled by the Ministry of National Defence.
In 1972, SATENA acquired newer British-Built AVRO HS-748 turboprops capable of carrying 48 passengers. Between 1984 and 1985, the airline incorporated two Fokker F28 jet aircraft with the capacity to transport 65 passengers.
Since its creation, the airline has performed many public services on behalf of the Colombian people, having provided service during crises in the country's history, as was the case of the Huila and Cauca earthquake of June 6, 1994, when SATENA performed search and rescue operations, airlifted local residents, as well as transporting needed medicines, foods and aid in general to the site of the tragedy.
In 1996, the largest modernization of the airline began, with the arrival of six Dornier 328s capable of carrying 32 passengers. These aircraft represent the new generation of equipment for regional routes.
In 2002, SATENA incorporated into its fleet one Embraer ERJ-145 with capacity for 50 passengers which arrived to replace the departing Fokker F28, which was reaching its maximum airframe hours. In 2004, SATENA became the airline with the newest and most modern aerial fleet in Colombia, when it incorporated two new Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft, allowing it to perform faster and more efficient services to its most isolated destinations.
At the end of 2010, SATENA suffered a financial crisis, consisting of bank debts amounting to 120 billion pesos and losses totaling 25 billion pesos. Due to this, the National Government proposes the law that would allow the commercial airline to get out of said crisis and compete in the air transport market in the country. This law consists of capitalizing this company at 98 billion pesos, where 49% of the company's shares will be put up for sale in a democratic process and within a period of two years, while the remaining 51% would continue in hands of the state, something that was never done in the end.
On April 29, 2018, the airline moved all its routes to the Terminal Puente Aéreo belonging to El Dorado International Airport, in order to facilitate the service to passengers on regional flights.[5]
As of March 2023, the SATENA fleet consists of the following aircraft:[6] [7]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers (economy) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATR 42-500 | 4 | - | 48 | ||
| ATR 42-600 | 4 | 1 | 48 | ||
| ATR 72-600 | 2 | - | 70 | ||
| Embraer ERJ-145 | 3 | - | 50 | One leased from SARPA | |
| Total | 13 | 1 | |||
SATENA had formerly operated the following aircraft: