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“Doors are open for Aerolíneas whenever they wish” Chile tells Argentina

Saturday, August 31st 2013 - 01:50 UTC
Full article 29 comments

Chilean Foreign minister Alfredo Moreno said that flag carrier Aerolíneas Argentina can access the Chilean domestic market whenever they wish, discarding any impediments or veto to such an option. Read full article

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  • Troy Tempest

    Argentina: “we demand reciprocity for domestic flights!”
    Chile: “sure, there you go, then”
    Argentina: “ we demand equal conditions!”
    Chile: “ Sure, anytime, no special impediments for Argentina”
    Argentina: “it's not fair, it's too difficult!”

    Chile: *rolls eyes*

    Aug 31st, 2013 - 02:37 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Frank

    I think the mad bitch's bluff has been called... but Recalde isn't going to give up....

    I don't think I would like to use ' boarding mechanical tubes' anyway .... sounds downright dangerous... a bloke could end up in the Rio de la Plata using one of them things......

    Aug 31st, 2013 - 03:32 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Anglotino

    Troy - perfect!

    Seems Chile totally pwned Argentina on this one.

    “not that easy” must be Lacamporese for 'impossible without subsidies'.

    Aug 31st, 2013 - 03:54 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • GeoffWard2

    #1 ... fun.
    But the 'small print' always shows contract-restrictions. There is still much room for Argentina to declare 'discrimination'!

    Aug 31st, 2013 - 05:45 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • LEPRecon

    Good on Chile, put the boot in and leave the La Campora scum looking like idiotic and childish amateurs...which is, of course, what they are.

    Argentina: A country on an express elevator straight to hell.
    Rest of the world: Don't give a sh!t.

    Aug 31st, 2013 - 06:33 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • ElaineB

    But the comments from the La Campora operatives are entirely for domestic consumption. They will hear, 'it's not fair' and 'Chile is our enemy'. Thus supporting this theft of the newly refurbished hangar, kicking out LAN and total control of the airport by La Campora. You have to wonder the real reason they need to control that airport.

    Aug 31st, 2013 - 07:04 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Troy Tempest

    I'm afraid you are correct, Elaine.
    Even if Aero Argie only had to comply with Chilean safety rules and airport fees, these would somehow be declared 'discriminatory', 'unfair', or 'undermining competitiveness'.
    Operating their airline abroad is just not within their capabilities and as you say, they never intended to do so, just playing to the home audience as an excuse for their own actions and stealing property.

    As someone said recently, according to the article about La Campora leading AR on the road to ruin, this is very much in line with their agenda of isolating and controlling Argentina.

    Aug 31st, 2013 - 10:12 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • ManRod

    Aerolineas Argentinas... you are welcome in our chilean domestic market.
    Feel free to enter the Businessleader's market and receive a fair and legal comercial beat up by our competitive companies AGAIN. We will ecnomically f*ck you in every thinkable position, so you won't know where's up and down.
    And all without any dirty tricks, like you are acustomed to...

    Aug 31st, 2013 - 10:51 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Conqueror

    @8 Do the sensible thing. Stand back. Watch AR kill it's passengers. Important that the DPA (Departamento de Prevención de Accidentes) publishes all reports on AR incidents. Don't forget proper taxation! And up-front payment. In US dollars. In cash.

    Aug 31st, 2013 - 11:37 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • ChrisR

    I just love the photo of the so called CEO with the maodel plane.

    You can see he is thinking it would be much easier if the real ones were this size!

    Aug 31st, 2013 - 12:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • GeoffWard2

    'You have to wonder the real reason they need to control that airport.' #6
    I'll say it - in the absence of any other response:
    when the military take responsibility for the collapsed country, CFK and the 'government' will need a dedicated and protected airport from which to 'emigrate'.

    Sep 01st, 2013 - 05:41 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • ChrisR

    11 GeoffWard2

    Good thinking.

    But surely even the poorly equipped argie forces have got a few RPG’s even if they haven’t got any SAM batteries?

    It doesn’t take much to disable / destroy a civilian airliner.

    Sep 01st, 2013 - 06:51 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • ElaineB

    @11 I tee-ed it up. Yes, exactly.

    But more than that. It is very useful to control an airport if you want to move things around without too many questions being asked.

    Sep 01st, 2013 - 07:06 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • GFace

    So does AR want Chile to give them not just access which the had all along but subsidies? Or the ability to compete with Chilean domestics by making them suck as much as AR so they don't look as bad...

    @11. I'm sure when the bell tolls CFK will be able to bug out in any case and even would accept a middle seat next to “dumped girl” (ironic that!). La Campora controlling the whole airport isn't needed and I'm sure they'll give her a seat in first class that someone else paid for and was sitting in...

    I think it is more to do with making sure AR has an artificial market dominance in BA. When in Washington DC I prefer to go through Washington National, and would even consider flying the sucktastical USScare over my preferred airline (which fortunately I don't have to) rather than leaving through Dulles. Same goes here, they are betting that more people would rather have a short run to the airport to get into or out of town fast rather even if it meant flying AR exclusivly. And the get to steal a brand new sweet hanger in the process that someone else paid for. I still say they should just give the theiving fascists the hanger but take with hem their gear and just a few rivets....

    Sep 01st, 2013 - 08:09 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • ElaineB

    @14 Whilst I agree with you about Washington DC, I am not so sure that is applicable here. People choose LAN for a different reason, not least that they are more likely to fly. AR is a badly run, vastly overstaffed, La Campora led, unreliable and unprofitable airline with a poor reputation.

    I was thinking about the pros and cons of flying from EZE or AEP. AEP is often hampered by adverse weather and strikes. I have spent many hours sitting around at that airport waiting for the fog to clear. EZE is prone to protests and blockades on the roads to it but by and large the planes take off on time.

    I think an important point to consider here is that La Campora are not trying to stop LAN Argentina from flying internal routes. They just want total control of the city airport and that is for a reason other than commercial purposes.

    Sep 02nd, 2013 - 08:38 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Troy Tempest

    Elaine

    What you say is interesting. You sound very adamant. Is there any other information you can share with us?

    Or, perhaps you don't wish to say too much?

    Sep 02nd, 2013 - 10:27 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • ElaineB

    @16 I am pondering the reason because the excuses given make no sense. It could be that they just wanted to steal the refurbished hangar. It could be they think they will make money from being the only airline using the city airport. But honestly? Would pissing off LAN Argentina really be worth the small monetary gains they would make? It is not going to stop them haemorrhaging US$3million per day. Is anyone really stopping them competing in Chile? No.

    So, there has to be another reason and far from it being to make a quick getaway, I think it has to do with being able to move cargo and people around without the knowledge of anyone outside of La Campora, or controlled by La Campora. JMO

    Sep 02nd, 2013 - 11:20 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • GFace

    @15 Well that IS true.. DCA can't exactly kick out all the airlines in favor of our non-existant flag carrier that was nationalized and then given to TeaPartiers or MoveOn.Org as irresistibly tasty seed corn for their political actives (as opposed to ahem... “commercial purposes” ;-). It DOES make you wonder what Kirchnerism't successor will be left with w.r.t. AR when the party's over.

    Sep 02nd, 2013 - 11:38 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Troy Tempest

    Thanks, Elaine.

    That would be in line with them wanting control, secrecy, and a lock on movement of civilians.

    Sep 02nd, 2013 - 11:39 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • ElaineB

    From the BsAs Herald

    The Chilean government today explained president Sebastián Piñera abided by the law when he agreed to sell his share stake in LAN airlines before taking office.
    Chile’s Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno came on stage today after Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner yesterday ironically tweeted: “Can anyone imagine if Aerolíneas Argentinas had been my company and when I was elected president I had sold it, instead of being a recovered state airline?”

    She is too stupid for words.

    @19 They have the trains and now they want the planes.

    Sep 02nd, 2013 - 12:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Troy Tempest

    20

    ”Chile’s Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno came on stage today after Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner yesterday ironically tweeted: “Can anyone imagine if Aerolíneas Argentinas had been my company and when I was elected president I had sold it, instead of being a recovered state airline?”

    My Gawd, she really has her head on backwards!!

    Elaine,

    Are most international flights out of the BA city airport?

    Would that be a way of monitoring or restricting the travel of citizens as CFK decides it is necessary??

    Not to mention - no official records kept of commodities and cash transferred in and out of the country by the CFK government?
    Her own 'duty-free' shop??

    In the wake of Syrian gas attacks and Iranian complicity, illegal substances, noxious or restricted by international agreement, could travel in and out, unreported to UN or foreign bodies.

    Just a thought...

    Sep 02nd, 2013 - 12:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • ElaineB

    Most international flights land at EZE. Depending on the traffic and number of protests it can take 40mins to several hours to get there from the centre of the city. I have always been quite lucky and the longest transfer has been 45 mins. This is in part due to the diligence of the staff at hotel where I stay. They monitor trouble and delays.

    AEP is right the city and services mostly domestic flights but also flights within South America. They are treated almost like domestic flights in my experience. You can arrive an hour before take off and people in South America can move freely between countries with an I.D. card.

    However, having free reign of an airport can allow all kinds of aircraft to land whenever they feel like it. And I suspect they can go anywhere carrying anything and anyone.

    You can see how CFK is attacking Chile and trying to make them the enemy as the excuse for the actions of La Campora. That is not the reason she is trying to kick them out but it always works with her followers.

    Sep 02nd, 2013 - 01:46 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • GFace

    @22 I dunno Elaine, “Most international flights land at EZE. Depending on the traffic and number of protests it can take 40mins to several hours to get there from the centre of the city.”

    Gee, AEP is sounding a heckovalot like DCA vs Dulles in that case! :-)

    But I'm still not sure why they can't do all this cloak-n-dagger stuff with the current arrangement since La Campora Air is favored in all ways by the government. I think it's a lot of can be summed up to greed for the hangar and monopoly on easy air access to the city wrapped up in a pretty pink bow of hubris since as long as CFK is in power and La Campora are her good loyal little brownshirts, they can do as they wish and she;ll let it happen.

    Sep 02nd, 2013 - 02:01 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Condorito

    @Elaine
    “She is too stupid for words. ”
    100% agree

    I wonder if she actually understands what is going on. She criticized Piñera for having sold his Lan assets - as he was required to do - to avoid business interests conflicting with his presidential duties. I think even her followers will be bemused by this.

    Ironically, it is people like Piñera who will reap the rewards of CFK's stewardship of the economy. In 2015 the Argie government will have to change course. They will have no alternative but to open up to foreign investment. This will go hand in hand with a significant devaluing of the peso. Chile's big holding groups will be in to make a killing.
    ...
    @LMAO
    Today AR asks Lan to come to the rescue and provide planes for two scheduled flights they were unable to complete (sorry it's in Spanish):

    http://www.emol.com/noticias/economia/2013/09/02/617705/aerolineas-argentinas-solicito-apoyo-de-lan-en-argentina-al-no-poder-cumplir-con-algunos-vuelos.html

    Sep 02nd, 2013 - 05:23 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Anglotino

    ElaineB

    “That is not the reason she is trying to kick them out”

    Is it because Lacampingitup need the airport for the mother ship to land?

    Sep 02nd, 2013 - 05:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • GFace

    @24... uh.... WHY Lan? Shouldn't they be beg, borrowing and of course stealing from Delta, Air France, Aeromexico and KLM? That's why those partnerships and alliances exist. Skyteam really yet picked another winner when they let AR in. (Full disclosure, we're a Delta family.)

    Sep 02nd, 2013 - 05:44 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • ElaineB

    @24 That is hilarious. Did CFK tweet about it?

    I remember reading about Piñera having to give up his stake in LAN in order to assume the presidency.

    As you well know, a dozen or so of the Big Families own most of the big business in Chile so it would always be a difficult line to walk to avoid accusations of conflict of interest. Should brothers, sisters, aunts and cousins twice removed have to give up their long-held business interests because a relative is elected to president? I don't think so.

    When you think about it, Piñera would have been better off financially keeping to his former life as a billionaire. Transparency is the only answer whilst in power.

    What is highly questionable is any president acquiring a vast fortune WHILST IN POWER.

    Sep 03rd, 2013 - 07:15 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Condorito

    @27 Elaine
    Absolutely right. We are on that topic over here:

    http://en.mercopress.com/2013/09/02/chile-replies-strongly-to-cfk-pinera-sold-his-stake-in-lan-to-avoid-conflict-of-interests#comment273096

    I am just making that point to El Think who questions Piñera's family group for their business interests, whilst defending CFK.

    Piñera is not in it for the money, he has already made more than he could ever spend and as you rightly say, if he wanted to make more money he would have stayed at the helm of his business empire.

    CFK's motives are far more questionable as is her running of the country.

    Sep 03rd, 2013 - 10:30 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • ElaineB

    @28 Thanks, I have been out most of the day. :)

    Sep 03rd, 2013 - 11:45 am - Link - Report abuse 0

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