Argentina’s flagship airline won’t be subsidised for first time since 2008

Argentina’s flagship airline won’t need state subsidies for the first time since the government nationalised the company almost two decades ago, according to a press release Wednesday.   

After looking at its budget needs for 2025, state-owned Aerolíneas Argentinas SA told Transportation Secretary Franco Mogetta in a separate letter dated April 28, that it will “not require funds from the country’s treasury.”   

The news represents a welcome development for President Javier Milei and his team as they continue to push ahead with an aggressive campaign to revamp an airline industry plagued by labor strikes and high costs. 

Aerolíneas, as the company is known locally, has been in the government’s sights for a while. It’s reported an average operating loss of US$400 million annually since 2008 while receiving US$8 billion in subsidies to cover operating deficits over the same span, company officials said in the statement. 

Since Milei declared the airline was subject to privatisation in September, executives have staged a drastic turnaround, reporting an operating surplus of US$20.2 million for 2024. The airline tied those results to a 15-percent reduction across its entire workforce, elimination of “unproductive routes” as well as the closing of several physical locations across the country.