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.
Argentine officials publicly stated on Thursday there was no intention of expelling any commercial airline from the country because Aerolineas Argentinas is working well, but called on Latam to help the Argentine flag carrier with reciprocity in Chile and Brazil.
An Argentine judge on Wednesday granted an injunction blocking the eviction of LAN Argentina, a unit of Chile-based LATAM Airlines Group, from its hangar at Buenos Aires Jorge Newbery Airport, which handles domestic and regional flights.
Lan Chile went to court in Argentina on Monday to appeal its eviction from a hangar at the metropolitan Buenos Aires Aeroparque airport, which is a crucial element of its national and regional operations. Several unions have anticipated that if the eviction is not stopped they will go on strike and interrupt domestic flights.
Lan Chile admitted the company had to yield to the demands from the Argentine company Intercargo, which monopolizes ground services in all the country’s air terminals, so that they could resume normal traffic in Argentina. It also said that it was not leaving Argentine but would review future investments and expects more common sense from local authorities.
Chilean company Lan Airlines said on Saturday it was “gradually resuming” domestic and international flights in Argentina that it had suspended on Friday due to a conflict with state-run Intercargo company. Intercargo said it had re-established the service to Lan after the airline agreed to cancel a debt.
LAN Chile halted on Friday all its flights in Argentina until Saturday morning after the state company Intercargo which provides ground support for the airline, unilaterally decided to cancel the service despite court orders to the contrary.
Brazil’s low-cost airline Gol announced that it is eliminating the WebJet brand, the rival airline that it took over earlier this year, cutting 850 jobs and reducing domestic capacity in the process.
Chile's newly merged regional carrier LATAM Airlines said on Monday it would spend 7.87 billion dollars on its fleet through 2014. The airline aims to have a 359-strong fleet by 2014, up from the 319 planes projected for this year.
Chile’s flag-carrier LAN announced that as of Wednesday it will cut Chile-South America fares as much as 40%. For years LAN has used what is known as the low-cost carrier model on its domestic flights, which has greatly reduced fares on its domestic flights and increased traffic.