Jetsmart brings three new Airbus 321 NEO, asks for more places in Aeroparque and “At the moment” is not interested in buying airlines

The new plane arrived with registration of Chile, as were the last four incorporations of aircraft of this American capital company: it was after the aeronautical authorities of the two countries signed a “mutual surveillance” agreement (similar to the one that had been signed in the Macri government) that allows a country with registration of one country to be assigned to make domestic flights in the other country.

“We believe it is a very important contribution and a very good demonstration of the moment that Argentina is living in the aerocomercial, we are already seeing that the passenger numbers transported exceed those of 2019”He said to Clarion The Guatemalan Executive. “By the end of March we will have two other planes of this type incorporated into the fleet of Jetsmart Argentina, which will comply with our promise of Reach 15 planes for 2025 ”.

Ortiz is the founder of Jetsmart: he came from being executive at the taca airline and took the investment fund commission Indigo Partnersthat from the United States had launched “low cost” airlines in its native country, in Mexico and in Europe. In 2016 Ortiz began the Jetsmart project in Chile, where the airline today has its parent company, and in 2019 it opened its subsidiary in Argentina, based on the El Palomar airport. During the government of Alberto Fernández, They negotiated with La Cámpora their transfer to Ezeiza, and finally to Aeroparque.

Today they have 17% of the domestic flight market (Data from December of the ANAC, the last available ones) Although Ortiz says that with the seats of two other airplanes that the airline incorporated during January, that “share” could currently be located about 19%.

In recent years, American Airlines was incorporated as a minority shareholder: Jetsmart confined the entry of the American aviation giant as a co -owner, and even part of his Millaje program. But even so, the partners insist on keeping in reserve what percentage of Jetsmart corresponds to each one.

“The offer of seats for cabotage flights in the Argentine market for the first quarter, according to our estimates, will be 12% above the one in 2019, which we already recovered from the best moment prior to the pandemic And even more. In our case, during January we transported more than double passengers than in June last year, there were 277,000 passengers against 127,000, ”Ortiz added.

-This year could go on sale Aerolineas Argentinas, if Congress approves the project to sell their shares. Are they interested in buying it?

-We are with our organic growth, we have 44 aircraft among all subsidiaries and we have a firm order for another 80 aircraft. We come from a very accelerated growth, with triple airplanes with respect to June 2022. So at the moment we are not contemplating another way to expand in any of the countries where we operate. Rather, we seek to consolidate the position in Argentina. In Colombia, where we just started operating less than a year ago, we are already flying eight aircraft. And the same in Peru and Chile, where we are for longer.

-It’s not a sharp negative.

-In this industry I learned that it is difficult to predict the future, because everything changes in a second. One does not know that two may arise along the way. But at this time we are not. We are going to focus on the organic growth of the fleet and on maintaining the model, which today has us in Argentina with a 90%occupancy record.

-With the current exchange parity, cabotage flights generate greater financial benefit?

-To domestic operation is fine. One of the very large uncertainty factors that all airlines live in Argentina in 2023 and part of 2024 was that a good part of our costs are in dollars and you did not know how much you were going to acquire or if you could acquire them, with Prices in pesos. But I must accept that in the second semester of 2024 and my expectation for 2025 is positive, we already have a more stable dollar, a more open exchange market, the possibility that we continue to see, say, a moderate devaluation, an inflation that comes the decline And an stock that hopefully is eliminated at the end of the year are crucial factors and the domestic market has responded well. We are already seeing a 2025 above 2019, that not all countries can say it. In that sense, the Argentine aeronautical market is healthier.

-The government opened the doors to enter new airlines to the domestic market, but a year later the market is still concentrated in airlines, followed by Flybondi and Jetsmart.

-The reality is that a domestic market of the size of Argentina will hardly be able to sustain more than three airlines. Chile has to be like that. Peru has three, the same as Colombia and Brazil. From the point of view of investment and risk, it is very different in a domestic airline: you have to establish yourself in that country, with a base of operations, maintenance, employees, pilots, crew. It is a much more complex decision than international flight. I believe that the Government (Argentine) did a very good work with the treaties of open skies laws, because primarily it will allow us as Argentine airlines we can fly to other countries and also to encourage other countries to oa Argentina. That these effects are not always seen immediately: in 2023 it was very cheap . But I would not be surprised at all that in this year 2025 let’s see an increase in tourism in Argentina.

-You have been asking for more space in Aeroparque and they did not get it.

-We consider that at least we should have ten ten moorings in Aeroparque, instead of the current six. But we have not yet allowed us to increase the amount of airplanes in the airport. I do not see that in the short term we can have 15 moorings for our 15 aircraft, but we understand that we should have at least ten. That the market proportion of each airline is considered.