MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Flybondi fleet to grow, new jobs created

Commercial aviation brings on genuine jobs, Sana said

Argentine budget airline Flybondi has announced plans to expand its fleet to 10 aircraft. The increase in operations would result in 400 new direct jobs, CEO Maurio Sana, announced Tuesday

After a slow recovery in 2021, the company envisions growth by 2023. Hence, the carrier plans to double its fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft to expand its list of domestic destinations. The airline currently serves 14 airports nationwide in addition to Florianópolis, São Paulo and Rio, in Brazil and Punta del Este, in Uruguay.

“We understand that there is an unsatisfied demand of 41 million people who want to travel,” said Sana. “We believe that we can grow from the 2019 numbers,” he added.

“In 2019, domestic flights had a record with 16 million tickets sold. As the tickets are roundtrip, we would be talking about 8 million people if none of them repeated the trip. In other words, we could be talking about 3 or 4 million Argentines who traveled, out of a total of 45 million. And what are the other 42 million doing?,”Sana wondered.

“Someone said during the pandemic that tourism is not essential. And that may be true: it is not essential that I travel. But that is only one side of tourism,” he went on.

The CEO insisted on the number of jobs linked to commercial aviation in addition to other direct and indirect “genuine jobs” being created.

Flybondi foresees this growth plan for the next two years will generate over US $ 420 million in productive activities nationwide.

“Undoubtedly, it means a great commitment by Flybondi and its investors to Argentina and the commitment to developing a business in a sustainable and long-term way,” said the CEO.

“This step that we are taking as a company means a great commitment to our country and with the vision that our activity and business will play a fundamental role in the recovery of the national economy,” he added.

Flybondi currently has a fleet of four Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft with 189 single-class seats and one more will be added in January. It will also add new international destinations in 2022.

(Source: Clarín)