is
Argentina 's largest domestic and international
Airline . It is the national airline and carries around 80% of Argentina's domestic traffic and 40% of international flights from
Ministro Pistarini International Airport , which is located in
Ezeiza ,
Buenos Aires . Aerolíneas Argentinas and
LAN Airlines are the only
Latin American airlines that fly to
Oceania .
The airline's history can be traced back to the year
1929 , when carrier
Aeroposta started operations. The Argentine government, recognizing Argentina's vast geographic size and the need for fast transportation links between the countryside and the larger cities, established an airline company to carry passengers and mail. The first two destinations served were
Mendoza and
Posadas .
Frenchmen Jean Mermoz and
Antoine De Saint-Exupéry were among the company's first pilots.
By 1930, two more airlines,
LASO and
LANE , began flights and the number of cities served by air routes in Argentina tripled. In
1945 , these two airlines merged, becoming
LADE (Líneas Aéreas del Estado, i.e. State Airlines). This was a well-timed move, as
World War II was entering its final stages and commercial aviation was set to start a stage of explosive growth. In
1946 the first
Douglas DC-3 s arrived in Argentina, and Argentina's first intercontinental airline,
FAMA , was created.
In May
1949 , all these carriers merged under the name Aerolíneas Argentinas. Operations started on
7 December 1950 . At this time Argentina did not have suitable airport facilities, so the government of
Juan Perón built Ministro Pistarini airport; General
Juan Pistarini , after whom the facilities are named, designed and directed its construction. Key to the airline's growth were
Alfonso Aliaga García , and
Dirk Wessel Van Layden , who had been a pilot with
French carrier
Aéropostale (not to be confused with Aeroposta) and was influential in raising flying standards.
The
DC-3 proved to be an invaluable asset for Aerolíneas Argentinas, as for many other airlines worldwide. It enabled them to fly to domestic destinations that had, until then, been unreachable – and to keep flying FAMA's international routes. Soon afterwards,
Douglas DC-4 s joined the fleet and services were inaugurated to
Santiago De Chile ,
Lima ,
Santa Cruz , and
São Paulo .
The
1950s saw the arrival of the
DC-6 , allowing Aerolíneas Argentinas to fly at night for the first time. Thanks to this plane, the name of Aerolíneas Argentinas was seen at terminals in
New York 's
Idlewild Airport , as well as
Havana ,
Lisbon ,
Dakar , and
Rio De Janeiro . By the end of that decade, the
Comet IV jet had begun commercial jet services worldwide, and Aerolíneas once again wanted to set the pace among South America's air companies. Airline President
Juan José Güiraldes persuaded Argentina's President
Arturo Frondizi to buy six of the new planes, on the understanding that Aerolíneas would pay for the planes later. And so, on
March 2 ,
1959 , 'Tres Marías', which became the first jet airplane flown by Aerolíneas, landed at Ministro Pistarini International Airport.
With these jets, Aerolíneas Argentinas kept a steady growth during the
1960s , opening routes to
London ,
Paris ,
Rome , and
Madrid . The
1970s saw the arrival of the
Boeing 747 s,
737 s and
727 s, and a stronger marketing strategy. Aerolíneas Argentinas was featured on many
Jorge Porcel movies at that time, and the began licensing toy companies to produce models of their aircraft, a practice it maintains today. In
1980 , Aerolíneas Argentinas became the first airline to operate a trans-oceanic South Pacific flight, from
Buenos Aires to
Auckland ,
New Zealand , and
Sydney ,
Australia , using
Boeing 747 s. The route remains in operation.
In 1990 the airline was sold by the Argentine government to the Spanish state-owned company
Iberia (which acquired an 85% stake) as part of president
Carlos Menem 's massive
Privatization program. Both the price paid by Iberia and the Spanish firm's ulterior conduct (including some convoluted lease-back operations) were widely considered to be due to
Corruption , with the airline paying the price for its own purchase with its assets.
The planes and most real estate (both global headquarters and offices in Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Rome and Frankfurt) were sold; some assets were leased back. The firm incurred massive debt, and operating profits were not realized. Iberia bought from Aerolíneas Argentinas two 10-year old Boeing 707 aircraft for the price of US$1.57 each.
Aerolíneas Argentinas when Iberia acquired it, and when it sold it.
Aerolíneas merged with Argentina's domestic carrier
Austral . By the late 1990s the airline was near bankruptcy; losses in 1999 where around 240 million US dollars. The Spanish government tried to sell its controlling share to
American Airlines but the offer was declined.
In June 2001 flights to seven international destinations were suspended and the airline went into administration. In October
2001 , control of both Aerolíneas Argentinas and Austral was handled to Air Comet, a consortium of the Spanish private carriers
Spanair and
Air Plus and travel operator Viajes Marsans, who acquired 92.1% of the shares.
After teetering on the brink of closure during most of
2001 , combined with the adverse effects of the
September 11, 2001 attacks on the industry and Argentina's financial meltdown of December 2001, Aerolíneas was forced to close down international services for a few days during early
2002 . However, fresh capital was provided ($50 million from the Marsans Group) and the airline resumed services almost immediately. In 2002 the airline came out of administration after a Buenos Aires judge accepted its debt restructuring agreement with creditors.
An expansion plan in 2004 included the creation of subsidiaries in Chile, Uruguay, and Bolivia, as well as a hub at
Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in
San Juan, Puerto Rico , which would allow the airline to become one of the biggest groups in Latin America. The airline is now owned by Grupo Marsans (92%), the government of Argentina (5%), and employees (3%) and employs 7,016 staff (at January 2005).
The airline endured a pilot's strike during
November of 2005. After nine days of negotiations, the airline and its pilots struck a deal.
See Also: Aerolíneas Argentinas destinations
The Aerolíneas Argentinas/Austral fleet consists of the following aircraft (at November 2005):
The average age of the Aerolineas Argentinas fleet is 18.8 years (at April 2006)
- Boeing customer code is -87
