Aero Continente Boeing B-727-95F OB-1533 CN 198963 LN 494 . Taken In August 1993 . Editorial Image

The airline was founded by Fernando Zevallos in 1992 as Aero Continente. Flight operations were launched on 25 May of that year, initially on regional chartered routes on behalf of Occidental Petroleum, a US-based oil and gas company. Scheduled domestic passenger services commenced on 20 July 1993, using a fleet of just two aircraft: a Boeing 727-100 and a Boeing 737-200. At that time, the Peruvian airline market was dominated by Faucett and Aeroperú. Aero Continente competed with these airlines by offering extremely low ticket fares.When Faucett and Aéroperu both went bankrupt in 1999 due to financial difficulties, Aero Continente acquired a monopoly position as the only airline operating on domestic routes in the country. By that time, the fleet size had been increased to approximately 30 aircraft, mainly of the 737 type, though larger aircraft like the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar were also used. During that period, international routes were launched, the first ones connecting Lima with Panama City and Santiago de Chile. This coincided with the foundation of Aero Continente Chile, a wholly owned subsidiary aiming at the Chile domestic market using a fleet of five Boeing 737-200 aircraft handed down from its parent.