How much money did Aerolíneas Argentinas lose?

As Simple Flying reported in April this year, Aerolíneas Argentinas has decided to abandon the New York-Buenos Aires route due to high losses and expansion interests elsewhere. The airline operated its last service in this sector last week with an Airbus A330-200, marking the end of an era. The only remaining US destination in its network is Miami.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy flying

A costly route

The service between Ezeiza International Airport (EZE) and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) costs the airline around $1 million in losses annually, according to a report by El Cronista. Citing sources, it said the New York route was simply unprofitable, with Aerolines Argentinas They prefer flights to safer and more lucrative destinations such as Miami and Madrid. In February and March alone, the Argentine airline lost $250,000, according to El Cronista.

Aerolines Argentinas

IATA/ICAO code

AR/ARG

Year of foundation

1949

Managing Director

Pablo Ceriani

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The airline hopes to minimize losses by redistributing its fleet to other destinations. While it will not operate its own flights to New York, the route will still be bookable, albeit through its SkyTeam alliance partner Delta Air Lines.

The cancellation of the flight to New York is part of a gradual restructuring of Aerolíneas Argentinas’ entire operations. In parallel with the cuts in the US, the airline’s new management also canceled the flight from Buenos Aires to Havana, Cuba, in March. Local media reported that this resulted in losses of over $500,000.

The last flight

The last return flight to New York was operated last week by an A330-200 with the registration LV-KHT. According to Flightradar24 data, the aircraft is 13 years old. Flight AR1300 left Buenos Aires on August 9 at 00:21, almost half an hour late. It landed on time at 09:41, 25 minutes ahead of schedule.

Photo: Carlos Yudica | Shutterstock.

The return flight left JFK the following day at 09:03 and landed in the Argentine capital at 20:32, about 20 minutes late.

According to Aviation Week, the service began operations in 1950 and continued until 2008. It resumed operations in 2013 and continued until it was discontinued last week.

Current frequencies and competition

Aerolíneas Argentinas operated the route three times a week. According to Cirium, the only other competitor on the route is American Airlines which operates daily flights with Boeing 777-200 aircraft. American has a much larger market share than Aerolíneas Argentinas. This is probably one of the reasons why the airline has struggled to be successful on this route.

Delta Air Lines will resume flights between EZE and JFK this winter after temporarily suspending operations in June. The Atlanta-based airline used an A330-900 for the flight and will continue to do so when operations resume on October 26.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy flying

In addition to significantly expanding its operations in Madrid and Miami, Aerolíneas Argentinas is also aiming for expansions elsewhere, such as its short- and medium-haul network to Brazil.