A senior official at Latin Airlines Networks (LAN), formerly LanChile, has publicly declared his airline will be operating within and beyond Argentina by the second quarter of this year, although how this will be done remains unclear.
President Jorge Awad said in April that LAN would enter Argentina either by associating with an Argentinian airline, launching its own start-up, or by convincing Buenos Aires and Santiago to form a common aviation market. LAN is now hard at work on the first option - affiliating with Argentina's American Falcon. Fayez Chehab, American Falcon's president, says he is in negotiations with LAN, which confirms it is conducting a due-diligence review of the carrier.
Alexander de la Fuente, LAN's finance director, says: "It is important for us to have a strong operation in Argentina and to fly from there to the USA, Europe, and other markets."
Earlier, LAN had tried to buy into LAFSA, the paper airline created by Argentina's government as a device to re-employ staff from two defunct local airlines. But LAFSA has few route rights of its own and is effectively locked into a joint venture with Southern Winds.
By contrast, American Falcon has an unused route network within Argentina plus several recently awarded cross-border routes. It only operates three aircraft, but if LAN follows the same pattern as in Peru, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic, it will supply its own aircraft. Part of the impetus for LAN to enter Argentina is that the Spanish owners of Aerolineas Argentinas plan a new carrier in Chile starting in September.
Source: Airline Business
