Sunday, July 22, 2012

Aerolineas Argentinas presents "2012 Operational Plan"

Aerolineas Argentinas president Mariano Recalde, along with Minister of Tourism Enrique Mayer and Chamber of Tourism president Osca Ghezzi, recently presented the airline's "2012 Operational Plan", the main purpose of which is to "promote domestic and inbound international tourism and strengthen the airline's presence in strategic markets to improve the profitability of its route network."

Specific actions to be taken include "consolidating" the "Corredores Federales" and "Corredor Petrolero" introduced during the last year that directly connect important Argentine cities and destinations to each other without having to go through the carrier's Buenos Aires' hubs.   Also planned are increased frequencies in the existing domestic route networks of Aerolineas / Austral,
including the addition of new cities, such as the new service that will soon start to Rio Hondo (RHD) in Santiago de Estero province.  

Mr. Recalde claimed that the two carriers increased domestic frequencies by 26% this year but he did not clarify if there was a net increase in seats too, as the 150-seater MD-80 fleet was retired and replaced by smaller 100-seat EMB-190's.  In the two-year period from March 2010 to March 2012, the number of passengers carried on the AR/AU "regional" route network (usually defined as  international routes within South America) increased by 41%.     

Internationally, Aerolineas is looking to increase frequencies to Barcelona (BCN), Bogota (BOG), Caracas (CCS), and Miami (MIA), adding an additional flight via Caracas.   Its flight to Sydney (SYD), which previously stopped in Auckland is now nonstop and will increase from three to four flights per week in December.  

Source: Aviacion News 14Jun12

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