In a ceremony held at the Aerolíneas Argentinas auditorium in Aeroparque, the company presented the results of the 2022 winter campaign, the first season that can be considered «normal» after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.
The operational and economic balance of the season was an increase of 101% in the number of passengers transported, to 37 domestic and international destinations. In total, the company transported more than one million passengers.
The event was attended by the CEO and President of Aerolíneas Group, Pablo Ceriani; the Chief Operating Officer Fabián Lombardo; the Ministers Matías Lammens and Alexis Guerrera, of Tourism and Transportation, respectively, and the Governor of Río Negro, Arabela Carreras.
Presenting a summary of the high season operation, Lombardo said that «We did a good job», while «July was the first month in which we exceeded the number of passengers we had in 2019».
«AR grew 101% overall, but tourist traffic grew 117%. Corporate traffic is not yet recovering but the domestic rise pushes the rest. This is a continuous work and if demand accompanies us, we will continue to grow. Connectivity within Argentina and the development of inbound tourism are two fundamental pillars of Aerolíneas Argentinas’ strategy.»
Minister of Transport Alexis Guerrera indicated «the pandemic was catastrophic for the airlines. And with a joint work with the Ministry of Tourism we were able to sustain the transport system during the pandemic, in order to have a transport system after the pandemic.»
«We made the political decision to keep transportation alive» and referred to the works at Ezeiza airport, which he visited this afternoon, describing them as «state-of-the-art» and with «security level 5, which is already the internationally required standard.»
Guerrera also said that «the state must sustain a flag carrier. If we had not sustained a flag carrier in the pandemic, we would have had tourists unable to travel in the post-pandemic. To fly to destinations that are not profitable for private companies, for those routes that do not look good in excel spreadsheets, it is essential that the flag carrier exists.»
«We do not refuse low-cost carriers, but we firmly believe and have the deep conviction that it is necessary to sustain [the flag carrier], because we have to remember when Aerolíneas Argentinas was not Argentinian. For the people, not everything is an excel spreadsheet».
Minister Lammens highlighted «when we presented the season we had good expectations, but we did not anticipate these numbers. More than five million travelers [including all means of transportation], 400,000 foreigners. In such a difficult context, here you can see a team that works, without pettiness.»
«This could be a coincidence, it could have to do with the dollar being cheap, but we knew we had the possibility of generating foreign income, such a conjunctural issue today. In that context, we know that inbound tourism works.»
«All this would not have been possible without having Aerolíneas Argentinas aligned,» he concluded.
«Previaje [Argentina’s state-run domestic tourism expenditure refund program] was the way to show that we needed a state that was present, but also an innovative, creative state that is encouraged, that generates an interaction with the private sector. This program generated a virtuous circle that allowed many Argentines to stay in Argentina and not to travel abroad. We are no longer talking about recovery; we are talking about growth.»
Pablo Ceriani, CEO of Aerolíneas, also said that «I have nothing but words of thanks for the team that worked together. Aerolíneas, ministries and agencies and with an extraordinarily staunch support from the President [Alberto Fernandez], who always supported Aerolíneas» and that «we were finally able to do what we like, which is to connect people and promote inbound tourism, which is an important objective because it brings us foreign currency that we need to grow and to generate economic development.»
«One of the pillars of growth of the country should be that, because we have a natural and cultural wealth that is still underdeveloped. We have to maintain continuity to receptive tourism, to generate an increasingly powerful brand.»
The governor of Río Negro, Arabela Carreras, stated that «seasons like these fill us with joy. We are happy with Aerolíneas’ mixed policy of accompanying demand but also reinforcing connectivity.»
