Guy Norris/CORDOBA
Southern Winds, a fast-growing Argentine regional based in Cordoba, is to begin its first codesharing flights with Aerolineas Argentinas this month as part of plans to expand its fleet to include up to 18 Bombardier Canadair Regional Jets (CRJs).
Christian Maggio, general manager of the four-year-old carrier, says: "The market is changing fast with the restructuring of Aerolineas. It wants Southern Winds to fly certain routes that are not good for it. We are going to begin working with Aerolineas under a codeshare and should be flying under that arrangement by the end of March."
The airline plans to work more closely with international carriers to connect with flights to the international airport at Buenos Aires.
The new connections could spur growth of the fleet, which includes six 50-seat CRJs and six Bombardier Dash 8-200 turboprops. "As CRJs are difficult to get, we will still consider acquiring more Dash 8s if we need to grow faster. We are studying the [70-seat] Q400, for example," he says. The potential fleet requirement for the 50-seat CRJ is 18, depending on the success of the Aerolineas codesharing arrangement and other potential ventures.
Southern Winds is also examining the 70-seat CRJ700 and stretched 90-seat 900. "We are interested in having the 70-seater, particularly as it has perfect performance for quite a few of our routes," he adds. New services, typical of the long thin sectors in the airline's network, will include Catarmaca to La Rioca and Jujury to Viedma, as well as new sectors to Formosa and Santiago in Chile. "We also have other new routes to Brazil, Chile and Uruguay," says Maggio.
With the new routes, Southern Winds will operate almost 100 flights a day to more than 20 destinations from its main hubs at Buenos Aires and Cordoba. Depending on the success of these newer routes, plus the trunk services, Maggio believes that the potential CRJ fleet (including stretched models) could eventually reach "up to 30, at least".
Source: Flight International
