Macri opens Argentine air routes to Colombia's Avianca after it buys his insolvent family airline.
Last edited Mon Jul 25, 2016, 02:31 PM - Edit history (1)
Progressive Congresswoman Margarita Stolbizer, a former ally of right-wing Argentine President Mauricio Macri, criticized the administration's recent decision to grant Colombia's Avianca access to domestic routes within Argentina. The decision, she said, would threaten Aerolíneas Argentinas, presents a conflict of interest, and is likely to lead to layoffs at the flagship airline.
The permits were awarded just two months after Avianca purchased the Macri family's insolvent airline, MacAir.
The purchase, announced in late March by Avianca CEO Germán Efromovich, surprised market analysts at the time given MacAir's four minor routes and minimal fleet of six air taxis.
Avianca is in the middle of a regional expansion plan after the merger of its Colombian and Brazilian units into the Sinergy Speed group, which controls both. According to Efromovich, “Argentina is an important market, and the idea is to begin with MacAir, which is regional, to serve some interesting domestic routes as well as improving other Avianca operations in Argentina.”
Stolbizer, however, denounced allowing Avianca to fly domestically within Argentina - a relatively modest market of around 18 million passengers annually which Aerolíneas Argentinas and its affiliated regional carrier, Austral, already compete for with LAN Argentina (jointly owned by the Chilean-based LATAM Airlines Group and Argentine investors - including Gustavo Lopetegui, Macri's chief economic adviser).
The introduction of a potentially large new competitor for Argentine domestic air traffic at a time when Macri austerity policies have led to sharply higher fuel and utility costs for the airline as well as decreasing air travel is likely to undermine competitiveness at Aerolíneas Argentinas.
Competitors agree that Avianca’s move is likely to mean more than a mere purchase of a small airline, with both LAN and the state-owned Aerolíneas Argentinas already looking over their shoulders. Avianca's arrival would put more pressure on Aerolíneas, which is currently beginning a restructuring plan that is likely to include dismissals and budget cuts, as well as extending LAN and Avianca’s fierce competition in other countries of the region to Argentina.
To Congresswoman Stolbizer, it's also a question of ethics. "No public officials or their relatives should put themselves in a position to benefit from any offers without first resigning," she said.
At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.politicargentina.com/notas/201605/14288-stolbizer-cargo-contra-los-macri-por-sus-negocios-con-avianca.html&prev=search
And: http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/211179/avianca-buys-airline-run-by-president%E2%80%99s-family
= new reply since forum marked as read
