• LAN celebrated this milestone with the Rapa Nui community at the finale of "LAN 45th Year Cup".
• Each year, 60,000 passengers travel to the island with LAN, the only commercial airline that offers nine weekly flights from Santiago, Chile; Lima, Peru; and Papeete, Tahiti.
• As part of this celebration, LAN will launch its renowned CSR program, "Cuido Mi Destino” (Taking care of my destination), which works alongside students to recover parts of the island.

LAN has this week celebrated the 45th anniversary of its first commercial flight to Easter Island, Chile.

The celebrations were held on 21 April and were headed by the mayor of Rapa Nui, Luz del Carmen Zasso and the Director of Corporate Relations of LAN, Bruno Ardito, and were attended by the Rapa Nui community.

"We are pleased to celebrate 45 years since our first commercial flight to Easter Island, which took place on April 3, 1967, marking a milestone in Chilean aviation by joining for the first time the South American continent with that territory, now considered a World Heritage Site,” Bruno Ardito, emphasised.

He added that the flights contributed to the development of the Island, and became important for promoting international tourism.

The celebrations coincided with the grand finale of the "LAN 45th Year Cup" soccer tournament.

LAN’s history on the Island 

A year after the first commercial flight to Easter Island, the route was extended from Rapa Nui to Tahiti in French Polynesia in 1968. Flights operate from Santiago – Tahiti –Santiago, with stops at Mataveri International Airport, Easter Island.

On January 5, 2011, LAN announced the launch of the Lima-Easter Island route, which connects the island with Europe and the U.S.

Annually, 60,000 passengers travel to the island on LAN’s nine weekly flights from Santiago, Chile; Lima, Peru; and Papeete, Tahiti. Of these, six are operated from Santiago, two from Lima and one from Papeete.

LAN: Rapa Nui’s Strategic Partner

LAN has a strong commitment to Easter Island, supporting and generating initiatives to sustainably develop the destination.

•  First Environmental Fair: In October 2010, the first Environmental Fair on Easter Island was held. 
• Sustainable Office: In January 2011, LAN completed the construction of a sustainable sales office, fully equipped for energy efficiency, active cooling (without air conditioning) and waste management.
• Transportation of compacting machine: During 2010, LAN, acting with others to eliminate toxins and waste from the island, contributed to the transport of a scrap compactor machine.
• Tapati Magazine: LAN Tours created the Easter Island Tapati brochure, developed by the municipality and sponsored by several companies, which is distributed aboard LAN flights in the weeks surrounding the event. 

“Cuido mi Destino” in Rapa Nui

As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility strategy, LAN will launch its "Cuido mi Destino" (Taking care of my destination) program on Monday, April 23. The program is in its second year and aims to enhance tourist awareness of the importance of maintaining and caring for public places.

This year, three schools on the island will work for four days to build a gazebo in the cove of the island, one of the tourist areas of Rapa Nui, and install trash cans downtown.

Last year students recovered sectors of Rapa Nui with touristic value such as the church, Pea Beach and one of the main streets, Te Pito or Te Henua.

The program runs for three years in each destination, in order to raise community awareness and achieve a real impact on the education of students.