Sunday, March 25, 2012

ROUTE UPDATES: Austral Starting Route Connecting "Internal" Argentine Cities

Austral recently announced that on 01Jun12 it will start two flights similar to the "Corredor Norte" service initiated by sister airline Aerolineas Argentinas on 18Aug10. 

Air transportation in Argentina has traditionally been centered on Buenos Aires with nearly all domestic flights originating or terminating at one of the city's two main airports, Aeroparque or Ezeiza.  However, the introduction of Aerolineas' "Corredor Norte" in 2010 alleviated the inconvenience this caused foreign tourists and travelers from the country's "interior" by offering a circular Buenos Aires-Aeroparque (AEP) - Puerto Iguazu (IGR) - Salta (SLA) - Mendoza (MDZ) - Bariloche (BRC) - Buenos Aires-Aeroparque (AEP) routing.

All of these cities are attractive to tourists with Iguazu's famous falls, Salta's high desert and indigenous culture, Mendoza's wine country, and Bariloche's lake district and skiing areas.   Previously, tourists that wanted to visit two or more of these regions had to backtrack to Buenos Aires to fly to each additional area they wanted to visit.   Aerolineas' flying the "Corredor Norte" twice per week in each direction has made it much easier to visit Argentina's key attractions plus Argentine travelers can also travel more easily within their own country.

The new routes that are similar to the "Corredor Norte" to be introduced by Austral are:

Buenos Aires - Ezeiza (EZE) - Cordoba (COR) - Mendoza (MDZ) - Neuquen (NQN) - Comodoro Rivadavia (CRD) on 135 (Monday, Wednesday, Friday).

Buenos Aires - Ezeiza (EZE) - Cordoba (COR) - Mendoza (MDZ) - Bariloche (BRC) x135 (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday).  

Both routes will be flown with the carrier's new EMB-190 fleet.

While Cordoba is not generally a tourist destination for foreigners, it is Argentina's second-largest city so there is a lot of demand going there. Mendoza is an important tourist center as well as being the country's fourth largest city, and both Neuquen and Bariloche are significant tourist destinations in Rio Negro province.   

Instead of being flown as circle routes from Buenos Aires all the way around to Buenos Aires, both flights will be operated to the end point and then flown in the reverse direction back to Buenos Aires in the same day.

Sources: Aerolineas Argentinas Press Release
             http://airlineroute.net via Eric Trum

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