Airline Andes Líneas Aéreas will reduce its commercial activities by 40 percent, the company announced Tuesday.
The decision will result in layoffs, the sell-off of aeroplanes and the firm's withdraw from specific routes, the company confirmed.
"We had the float and structure in place for nine planes and we will change to [a structure] with five (planes): 40 percent fewer workers, 40 percent less infrastructure, [and a] 40 percent reduction in the size of the company", Andes' commercial manager Bernardo Raced Aragón told Cadena 3.
Specifically, the company will hand back four Boeing 737-800s from its existing fleet; while dropping its Buenos Aires-Tucumán and Salta-Tucumán routes and cancelling planned services to Brazil and the Caribbean.
"Andes is the biggest private airline (of Argentine capital) in the country but that does not mean it is not a small company. The only resource it has in these situations is to downsize or go bankrupt. There's no other outcome", Aragón added, citing the impact of the strong US dollar on his sector's activities.
Andes is the third largest airline in Argentina behind Aerolíneas Argentinas and Latam.
The country's once tightly regulated air travel market began opening up this year with the arrival of low-cost airlines like FlyBondi, Norwegian Air and JetSmart.
With its pro-market agenda, the Macri government continues assessing tenders for some 800 additional routes.
-TIMES
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