Argentina changes rules and will have a free market with domestic flights from foreign companies

The Argentine government has officially launched a series of transformative reforms, which aim to revolutionize the aviation industry through Decree 599/2024. Published in the Official Bulletin, these reforms seek to deregulate the Argentine commercial aviation market, promising significant impacts on the industry and its regulatory framework. Some of the main changes introduced by Decree 599/2024 involve free access to the market, promoting free access to any airport for new explorers, encouraging fair competition, deregulation of tariffs and freedom in the allocation, and fixing of frequencies. This change seeks to foster a more competitive and dynamic market. Airport and ramp services: The decree authorizes companies to operate airport and ramp services, eliminating previous limitations. Operators can now establish their own ground services or delegate them to third parties, meeting a long-standing demand from low-cost airlines, which are currently forced to self-manage or be provided by Intercargo, the state-owned handling operator, which should be privatized. Domestic flight authorizations for foreign companies (under air freedoms 8 and 9) may be granted unilaterally, but “under strict reciprocity”, in line with existing bilateral agreements. Currently, only Chile and Uruguay are authorized to operate continuous or autonomous cabotage in Argentina, and it is speculated that an agreement with similar characteristics will be signed with Paraguay. Codeshare, interline, and joint ventures: The decree requires the prior presentation of codeshare, interline, and joint venture agreements for approval. These agreements will be automatically approved within 15 working days, unless there are objections. If a bilateral agreement is signed with Paraguay, there is a chance that LATAM will operate in Argentina again. The company left the country after the Pandemic and alleged excessive regulatory rules, favoring the state-owned Aerolíneas Argentinas, in addition to strong union interference. Today, there is LATAM Paraguay (formerly TAM Mercosur and LAPSA), which continues to have its own operator certificate using Brazilian-registered aircraft, but with crew from the neighboring country. If the agreement is closed, this LATAM division could operate domestic flights in Argentina. The Chilean SKY has already shown interest in using this new possibility. – https://aeroin.net/argentina-muda-regras-e-tera-livre-mercado-com-voos-domesticos-de-companhias-estrangeiras/