ROUTE UPDATES: August 2021 - Jetsmart Argentina, Lineas Aereas del Estado (LADE)

Route Updates - August 2021

The following airlines / flights are confirmed to have started or re-started on the indicated dates.  Most, maybe all, of the services are the resumption of flights that existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Increases / decreases in flight frequency are not always verified.

Airline                      Origin                             Destination                 Eff Date     Type            Frequency   

Jetsmart                  Buenos Aires                   Posadas (PSS)            10Aug21     A320           2x/weekly 

Argentina                Aeroparque (AEP)

* Remarks:   

  

Jetsmart                  Buenos Aires                   Corrientes (CNQ)         13Aug21     A320           3x/weekly 

Argentina                Aeroparque (AEP)

* Remarks:   

Lineas Aereas         Buenos Aires                  Bariloche (BRC)            19Aug21     F-28

del Estado (LADE)  Aeroparque (AEP)

* Remarks: via Bahia Blanca (BHI) and Puerto Madryn (PMY) 

Sources:

www.aviacionline.com

www.sirchandler.com

www.aviacionnews.com

www.cabeceranorte.com

ROUTE UPDATES: July 2021 - Part 1 - Aerolineas Argentinas, Flybondi, Jetsmart Argentina

Route Updates - July 2021 - Part 1

The following airlines / flights are confirmed to have started or re-started on the indicated dates.  Most, maybe all, of the services are the resumption of flights that existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Increases / decreases in flight frequency are not always verified.

Airline                      Origin                             Destination                      Eff Date     Type           Frequency   

Flybondi                  Cordoba (COR)               Bariloche (BRC)               03Jul21      737-800      2x/weekly  

* Remarks: Probably seasonal for winter ski  

Jetsmart                  Cordoba (COR)               Bariloche (BRC)                03Jul21     A320           3x/weekly 

Argentina

* Remarks: Probably seasonal for winter ski  

  

Aerolineas               Buenos Aires                   Puerto Madryn (PMY)       08Jul21     E-190         2x/weekly

Argentinas               Aeroparque (AEP)

* Remarks

Sources:

www.aviacionline.com

www.sirchandler.com

www.aviacionnews.com

ROUTE UPDATES: March 2021 - Part 3 - Lineas Aereas del Estado (LADE), Turkish Airlines

Route Updates - March 2021 - Part 3

The following airlines / flights are confirmed to have started or re-started on the indicated dates.  Most, maybe all, of the services are the resumption of flights that existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Increases / decreases in flight frequency are not always verified.

Airline                      Origin                             Destination                      Eff Date     Type          Frequency   

Lineas Aereas         Comodoro                       Puerto Madryn (PMY)      30Mar21     Twin Otter  2x/weekly 

del Estado (LADE)  Rivadavia (CRD)

Turkish Airlines       Buenos Aires                  Istanbul (IST)                   30Mar21      A350-900  3x/weekly    

                                  Ezeiza (EZE)                   

Remarks: 

Stop in Sao Paulo Guarulhos (GRU) enroute.  

Passenger flights previously operated by 787-9 replaced by A350-900.  

Apparently cargo flights operated by passenger-configured 777-300's since at least August 2020. 

Sources: 

www.aviacionline.com

www.sirchandler.com

www.aa2000.com.ar

www.flightstats.com

FLEET UPDATE & ROUTE UPDATE: Andes expanding with New Scheduled Routes & More Aircraft

Andes Lineas Aereas of Salta (SLA), which started flying with MD-80's in 2005, has always had a modest scheduled route network complemented with a lot of charter flying for sports teams and especially the student vacation market to the Bariloche (BRC) lake and mountain resort.

While most growth opportunities were stifled during the previous Argentine presidential administrations, the new growth-oriented air transportation policy in the country will apparently see the carrier's scheduled network grow substantially in the coming months. 

Fleet Status & Update

Andes currently operates four MD-83's, all ex-Austral with two of them having been originally delivered to Aerolineas Argentinas' sister carrier in 1989/90.  

LV-AYD (c/n 53015/1818)

LV-CCJ (c/n 49621/1495)

LV-WGM (c/n 49784/1627) - Austral original delivery in 1989

LV-WGN (c/n 49934/1764) - Austral original delivery in 1990

The carrier is expected to take delivery of two MD-83's (probably ex-Delta) and two 737-800's, tentatively ex-Malaysian, 9M-FFD (c/n 30007/746) and 9M-FFE (c/n 30567/761), both in storage since late 2016, with the first aircraft expected in May. 

Route Status & Update

Andes' scheduled route network presently links Buenos Aires Aeroparque (AEP) with Salta (SLA) and Jujuy (JUJ) in northwest Argentina plus Cordoba (COR) in the center and Puerto Madryn (PMY) on the Patagonian Atlantic coast.  Mendoza (MDZ), in the western wine country, near Chile was just added on a twice-daily basis from AEP on 20Mar17. 

The next destination to be added to its scheduled route network is Bariloche (BRC) from Buenos Aires Aeroparque (AEP) effective 16Jun17 to be followed tentatively by Iguazu Falls (IGR) and Comodoro Rivadavia (CRD).  

The 27Dec16 route hearings saw Andes granted routes that will see the carrier accumulate a network of 14 domestic destinations plus international service to Lima (LIM), Santiago (SCL) and Sao Paulo Guarulhos (GRU): 

http://argentina-airline-news.blogspot.com.ar/2017/01/airline-route-update-andes-lineas.html

Finally, its charter services, including flights to the Caribbean are expected to continue into the future. 

Sources:

http://www.sirchandler.com.ar/2017/03/las-novedades-andes-marzo/

http://www.aviacionline.com/2017/03/andes-operara-vuelos-regulares-a-bariloche-desde-junio/

http://www.airfleets.net/flottecie/Andes%20Lineas%20Aereas-active-md80.htm

Andes Lineas Aereas - 10 years flying in Argentina - Profile & History

Andes Lineas Aereas was founded in Salta (SLA), Argentina in 2005 and started service in June 2006.  The main reason behind its start-up was to add flights between Salta (SLA) and Buenos Aires Aeroparque (AEP) to make up for the loss of capacity on the route due to sharp cutbacks in service, including a significantly down-sized fleet, by the then-owner of Aerolineas Argentinas, the Spanish Marsans tourism group.   

Fleet

Andes fleet has consisted of a total of thirteen MD-82/83 series aircraft, two short-bodied MD-87's, two CRJ-900's and two A320's. It appears that some of the MD-80's never entered service with the airline and were only used for spare parts.  

Andes currently operates four MD-83's, LV-AYD (c/n 53015/1818), LV-CCJ (c/n 49621/1495), LV-WGM (c/n 49784/1627) and LV-WGN (c/n 49934/1764).     

Scheduled Routes

The airline has flown scheduled services, primarily between Salta (SLA) and Buenos Aires Aeroparque (AEP) with extensions in the south to Puerto Madryn (PMY), the Patagonian city located on the Atlantic which is famous for whale-watching, and Jujuy (JUJ) in the north, some 80 miles from Salta.

Charter Services

Very important to Andes has also been its numerous charter services, with perhaps more charter flights during the last decade than any other Argentine airline.  

These include charter flights on behalf of tour operators selling vacation packages, such as to the Brazilian destinations of Florianopolis (FLN), Maceio (MCZ), Natal (NAT), Porto Seguro (BPS), Recife (REC), Rio de Janeiro Galeao (GIG), and Salvador de Bahia (SSA). the Dominican Republic resorts of Punta Cana (PUJ) and La Romana (LRM) plus Montevideo (MVD) and Punta del Este (PDP) in Uruguay.   

Andes also flies sports charters for professional football (soccer) teams and their supporters all over South America for tournaments such as the Copa de Libertadores and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.    

The airline also flies many domestic charters in Argentina, especially student trips to the lake. mountain and ski resort of Bariloche (BRC) located near the Chilean border and Andes mountain range.  

Andes even painted an MD-83 with the name of one of Argentina's most important student tour operators, Travelrock, emblazoned on the side in billboard titles.  Cities served in Argentina on a charter basis have included Cordoba (COR), Malargüe (LGS), Puerto Iguazu (IGR), Resistencia (RES), San Juan (UAQ), Chapelco / San Martin de Los Andes (CPC), and Ushuaia (USH).

The next posting will feature a photo history of much of Andes' fleet and its aircraft color schemes.  

Sources:

http://www.airfleets.net/flottecie/Andes%20Lineas%20Aereas.htm
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andes_L%C3%ADneas_A%C3%A9reas

http://web.archive.org/web/20100825235622/http://www.andesonline.com/andes_site/index.php?l=servicios.php

ROUTE UPDATES: Argentina Airline Route Additions & Changes

Andes Lineas Aereas - Effective 15Feb14

The Salta-based airline was scheduled to increase its MD-80 service from Buenos Aires Aeroparque (AEP) to Puerto Madryn (PMY) on the Patagonian Atlantic coast from 3x/weekly to 5x/weekly in mid-February.   

The government of the province of Chubut, where Puerto Madryn is located, agreed to pay a portion of the carrier's fuel costs on the route in return for free tickets for government employees traveling on business. More importantly, Puerto Madryn is a major destination for nature tourism, especially whale-watching, and it needs convenient flights to assure air connectivity for tourists.  

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines - Effective February 2014

Extended its 3x/weekly Amsterdam (AMS) - Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE) service to Santiago (SCL) for the first time since 2000 when the carrier dropped the route due to a restructuring of its long-haul flights.  

The airline, which operates 777-300's on the route, has "Fifth-Freedom" rights to sell tickets between EZE and SCL and vice versa.  "Fifth Freedom" refers to an airline from one country selling tickets on flights between two other countries.  

Similar "Fifth Freedom" rights are exercised by Air Canada, also between EZE and SCL, Emirates and Qatar between EZE and Sao Paulo Guarulhos (GRU), and Air France between EZE and Montevideo (MVD) offering passengers some interesting choices when flying between these cities.  
Aerolineas Argentinas - Effective 02Mar14

Will convert its 1x/weekly Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE) - Cancun (CUN) flights from charters to regularly scheduled service with the flights increasing to 3x/weekly, all operated with A340's on 04Jul14.  

Apparently, the main reason for the conversion is the non-renewal of the contracts between the airline and tour operators that packaged the destination due to a 32% drop in travelers in December alone.  This is probably because of the increasing difficulty to buy U.S. dollars in Argentina for foreign travel.  As a result, one would question how well the scheduled service will do.        

Sources:

http://www.siscoma.com.ar/online/aviacion/2014/avn140206/avn-140206.html
http://airlineroute.net/2014/02/17/ar-cun-mar14/ via Eric Trum