Plans for add flights and planesfurther deregulations and order of Elimination of the PAIS Tax for tourism These were the main points addressed at Aviation Day, a forum organized by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Airports Council International for Latin America and the Caribbean (ACI-LAC), which brought together officials and industry representatives on Thursday.
The event was not a coincidence: it is the first time that the organizations have joined together to do so, in a Breaking point for Argentine aviation in which, according to the Secretary of Transportation of the Nation, Frank Mogettais coming out of “a closed system con distorting protectionismin which a few win and resist changes attached to their privileges, believing themselves to be the owners of the sector”, to instead go towards “an opening and modernizing the market”.
In this regard, he anticipated that There will be more measures after the first package of decrees of initial reforms, which include deregulation of services. On the same day, the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC) repealed the airline punctuality evaluation rankingwhich he described as “an ineffective procedure that does not impact on improving the service and only increases bureaucratic procedures.”
Peter CerdáIATA vice president for the Americas, was categorical. “The measures imply that There is no more monopoly. The number of bilateral agreements is record. Eight agreements have never been signed in such a short time: with Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador, Panama and Canada,” he listed, and considered that in the management of Mauricio Macri There were achievements, but this time the milestones were immediate.
In that direction, A memorandum of understanding was signed between IATA and ANAC to improve audit systems. Next week, there will be negotiations with national authorities to lower costssuch as the air navigation tax that was recently raised.
Cerdá also asked that the PAIS Tax for tourism be eliminated in Decemberas the Government promises, and urged end monopolies like Intercargoto allow each company to choose which ramp service to use. “We are not going to have five new airlines tomorrowbut to pave the way for it to eventually happen,” he said.
In this regard, Rafael Echevarnedirector general of ACI-LAC, exemplified what happened in the United States: “The political decision was made to end the monopoly. Deregulation led to accelerated growth in the passenger and cargo market, with job creation.”
Aerolíneas, JetSmart and Flybondi plans
The airlines celebrated this course y They anticipated a expansion of the offer. In the midst of a union conflict with the pilots – who paralyzed the company’s operations on Friday -, Fabian LombardoCEO of Argentine Airlinestook a break to participate in the meeting. There he referred to the launch of night flights After 30 years as a strategy “for compete in the low cost market“with sustainable growth driven by the flag carrier, in order to reduce its losses and the number of employees. “In the first two days, More than 10,000 tickets were sold“, he said.
On the low cost side, JetSmart ratified its US$ 160 million investment plan on two Airbus A320 aircraft that will arrive in October and will join the fleet of eight aircraft in the country for Increase the number of domestic seats by 86%with more frequencies to destinations where it flies regularly and reactivation of routes.
Stuart OrtizCEO of the company, said that there are “a historic transformation”. “If you had asked me nine months ago if I thought it was possible, I would have said no. It is a huge change from what we were experiencing before, when The question was not whether you wanted to grow, but whether you could or were allowed to do so.”.
“At last There is a message that encourages the market to grow and be transparent.The point is not who is stealing share from whom, but how are we going to make people who today do not consider flying do so, lowering the barriers to entry“, he said, in turn, Mauricio SanaCEO of Flybond.
And he added that “The domestic market has the potential to reach 30 million trips in five years“It seems like a lot, but It is still less than one trip per inhabitantif we consider a population of 47 million,” he clarified. Both demanded free access to markets.
Infrastructure is preparing to respond to demand. Daniel Ketchibachian, CEO of Airports Argentinastressed that in recent years the largest airport concessionaire in the country, belonging to America Corporation, invested US$ 1 billion in the 35 airports and 41 tracks that manages.
“Investment is essential: the airport has to arrive before the flight and have the structure ready for when an airline decides to open a route,” he explained.