Flights to the Galapagos Islands – Tame EP

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Welcome to the third installment about flights to the Galapagos Islands from Tame EP. Within a special 3 parts where we have talked about the different operators and flight frequencies from continental Ecuador to Galapagos, It's the turn of the country's flag airline in the last installment on this topic. in the near future, We will talk about Baltra Airports, San Cristobal and Isabela and later, of inter-island flights.

First delivery: Avianca Ecuador.
second delivery: LATAM Ecuador.

We have talked extensively about the different conditions and restrictions that flights to Galapagos have.: must be generated from the continent (Quito, Guayaquil and even Manta), the Travelers must present a series of requirements to be able to travel, Strict sanitary measures must be followed on airplanes, Luggage will be checked for all passengers and there is a limit of approximately 250 one thousand maximum annual passengers to Galapagos.

Continuing with this special, we will talk about Tame, the airline that has flown the longest without interruption to Galapagos.

The History of Tame in the Galapagos

As we advance, Tame is the oldest airline serving the Enchanted Islands non-stop since 22 June 1969, a few years after starting operations 17 from December to 1962. back then, Tame's flights to the islands were carried out with C-47 aircraft, which had a fair autonomy to arrive and return (in Galapagos there is limited access to JET A1 refueling at present, not to mention in the 60s) and later, With the growth of the airline, DC-6 aircraft began to operate up to the great Electra., with which the flights were consolidated and the company became the main operator for more than 40 years.

Following the years, Tame continued to position its operations and with the incorporation of Boeing aircraft 727 in their versions -100 and -200, The airline achieved total hegemony in flights to Galapagos. Over time, new competitors arrived on the islands. SAN Ecuador and Saeta competed for the duration of their history in that market that became more interesting every day and demanded a greater number of flights to satisfy the demand mainly from tourists from the United States., who until now, They are the main visitors to the islands with more than 62 thousand tourists during the 2016.

With the arrival of the first Airbus A320 HC-CDY and HC-CDZ aircraft, Tame offered a new level of quality, security and modernity towards Galapagos, offering for the first time in-flight entertainment with overhead screens for this flight that lasts 2 hours from Guayaquil and 2 hours 20 from Quito approximately, which placed it as the most used option. For the year 2005, competition towards Galapagos strengthened. AeroGal increased its flights by incorporating more Boeing aircraft 737-200 and Icaro Air began flights to San Cristóbal with 5 weekly frequencies also with Boeing 737-200 conocidos cariñosamente como «Chanchitos».

For him 2009, AeroGal volvió a empujar sus operaciones a las Islas, incorporating a Boeing 757-200, offering greater capacity and comfort for its passengers. That same 2009, LAN Ecuador inició operaciones, ending Tame's sustained growth and coping with AeroGal's pushback. AEROLANE ofreció un nuevo y mejor servicio, con aviones nuevos y tarifas más económicas, captando rápidamente el mercado, mainly foreign, que gracias a los sistemas tecnológicos del grupo LAN Chile y amplia red de destinos, le permitió a LAN Ecuador posicionarse rápidamente y desplazar a la competencia.

in the last 4 years, con la transformación total de AeroGal en Avianca Ecuador, esta recuperó el mercado perdido con LATAM y desplazó a Tame al tercer lugar en participación de mercado en vuelos a Baltra y San Cristóbal, obligando así a Tame, to reduce their flights and offer.

Tame EP (before TAME – Ecuadorian Military Air Transport) Third installment:

In the section above, The history of Tame's flights to the Galapagos has been summarized as best as possible.. Currently, with the complex situation that the airline is going through this has had to reduce its flights and offer, first due to own problems and second also due to competition. LATAM Ecuador and Avianca Ecuador have great support from 2 most important air groups in the region, which implies an important technological advantage in web and reservation systems as well as the feeding of all its flights with the arrival of passengers from the Lima HUBs, Bogota, El Salvador and in general the network of destinations of these airlines.

The panorama is complex for Tame when competing with these groups, If we add the operating situation so far this year, The airline has had to cancel hundreds of flights and relocate passengers to competing flights, since he had to fly with Embraer planes 190 (He has flown with this type of aircraft on several occasions to the Galapagos) with capacity for 99 passengers instead of the Airbus A320 to 162 passengers or the Airbus A319 for 120 passengers.

Itineraries and flights from Tame EP to Galapagos

Maintaining the operation like the others 2 airlines, Tame flights also start in Quito and Guayaquil, main markets with demand for the islands, although their flights, through the network of domestic destinations in Ecuador, They feed from Cuenca, Manta, Esmeraldas and others:

Quito – Baltra – Quito direct

Tame from the 11 from December to 2017 resumed direct flights from Quito to Baltra, operating these flights on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays with Embraer planes 190, flight EQ197 taking off from Quito at 09:10 and landing in Baltra at 10:00 Galapagos Time. The return is scheduled as EQ196 taking off at 11:00 and landing in Quito at 13:50.

Guayaquil – Baltra – Guayaquil

From the 13 May 2018, Tame increased 2 weekly flights between Quito – Guayaquil and Baltra, increased this frequency on Tuesdays and Sundays:

The airline operates until 2 daily flights between Guayaquil and Baltra all started in Quito. Count in total 22 frequencies between round trip. Does 6 years, in the airline's largest participation in flights to Baltra, this came to operate 34 weekly flights on both routes. These flights generally, They operate on Airbus A320 aircraft.

Quito – Guayaquil – San Cristobal

Always starting in Quito, flights to San Cristóbal de Tame, operate from the 10 May 2018 a total of 5 weekly flights, an increase of 3 flights that it operated until the end of the 2017:

Tame airline operates a total of 10 weekly flights between round trip, These flights are generally operated by Airbus A319 or Airbus A320 and even Embraer aircraft. 190 depending on fleet availability and demand. With current flights, This is Tame's largest presence on the route to San Cristóbal.

With these frequencies, Tame opera 19 weekly flights to the Galapagos Islands, which places it in third place in market share. tame at this point, You must carry out strategies that allow you to recover the market, win back direct customers and work again to recover travel agencies, which are the main ticket issuers for this destination.

Statistics

After having been for many years the main airline transporting passengers to the Galapagos, For the year 2015, Tame placed third with the 26% in market share, 10 points below the next competitor which is LATAM Ecuador.

In what was the year 2015, Tame lost a -4% of passengers transported, which meant that they stopped flying with the State airline -2.578 passengers.

 

GALAPAGOS AIRLINES MARKET SHARE
Avianca Ecuador		LATAM Ecuador		Tame EP
37%		36%		26%

 

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