More flights and more travelers in Argentina

Iberia Expands Latin American Flights after Collapse of Air Comet

Iberia, Spain’s flag carrier, said Wednesday that it has expanded by 20,000 seats its scheduled service to Lima, Buenos Aires, Bogota, Quito and Havana in response to last week’s shutdown of Madrid-based Air Comet.

The flag carrier added four additional flights per week to Lima, bringing the total to 15, and three more flights to Buenos Aires, which takes the weekly total to 17.

Iberia will fly to Quito three extra times per week.

On the Madrid-Bogota route, the airline will add three more flights – rising to eight more in June – and start using bigger aircraft.

Iberia will likewise use a larger plane for flights to Havana, which will be offered two or three times a week.

The Spanish government turned to Iberia and another Spanish carrier, Air Europa, for help in accommodating some 7,000 passengers left in the lurch by the failure of Air Comet.

Separately, Aerolineas Argentinas has agreed to offer reduced fares on one-way flights to Buenos Aires for people affected by the shutdown of Air Comet, the Argentine Embassy in Madrid said Wednesday.

The plan will be in effect Jan. 2-31, at fares ranging from 375- 575 euros ($538 – $825), depending on seat availability, the embassy said in a statement.

Air Comet ceased operations Dec. 21 after running out of money to make lease payments on its aircraft.

The airline owed $25 million (17.2 million euros) in lease payments to German-based Nord Bank, which persuaded a court in London to impound the carrier’s planes and ban the airline from selling any more tickets.

The bust airline’s total debt comes to an estimated 100 million euros ($143 million), a good deal of that in the form of unpaid wages and salaries.

Air Comet was founded in 1996 by Marsans, Spain’s leading tourism conglomerate, and operated regularly scheduled flight to Buenos Aires, Lima, Guayaquil, Quito, Bogota, Havana, Cancun and Mexico City.

Foreign tourism gains 1.6 in November

After three months of being in a downwards trend, foreign tourism increased 1.6 percent in November compared to the same month in 2008, reported the Indec national statics bureau.

The agency held that 191,771 foreign tourists entered the country in November via Ezeiza airport, which is the main access route into Argentina.

Nevertheless, during the first eleven months of 2009 it accumulated a 15.6 percent decrease and the total volume of foreign tourists in the country was 2,136,876.

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SOURCES:

“Iberia Expands Latin American Flights after Collapse of Air Comet”
Latin American Herald Tribune
Dec 30, 2009
http://www.laht.com
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=349592&CategoryId=12396

“Foreign tourism gains 1.6 in November”
Buenos Aires Herald
Jan 15, 2010
http://www.buenosairesherald.com
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/BreakingNews/View/22528