Javier Milei’s government opens the commercial aviation sector to more competitors

The government of Argentine President, Javier Milei, On Wednesday, the airline published a decree that deregulates the commercial aviation sector by promoting the entry of competitors and liberalizing tariffs, which would affect the dominant position of the state-owned company. Argentinian airlines in the market.

The decree published in the Official Gazette provides for the access of new route operators through short and agile administrative procedures, the encouragement of competition between operators and freedom in setting prices, leaving aside a scheme of minimum and maximum rates.

The Argentine air market, dominated by Aerolíneas Argentinas, has few low-cost companies with competitive fares, including Flybondi and JetSmart.

The new regulations, implemented within the framework of the policy of “Open skies” and that the reform of the aeronautical code regulates cooperation agreements between companies to share flight schedules, routes, resources and connections.

“The ultimate goal is for the country to have greater connectivity, more frequencies and new airlines. This will generate a greater flow of tourism in the Argentine provinces, with more competitive rates.”the government said in a statement in which it stressed that “The regulations governing the Argentine air sector have not been renewed for more than 70 years””.

The new legislation is part of the package of reforms that the new Minister of Deregulation and State Transformation, Federico Sturzenegger, announced days ago.

The government of the ultra-liberal Milei has been developing bilateral agreements that promote the opening of skies with Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Uruguay, Panama and Canada, to which more countries will join in the coming months.

The decree allows access to routes without the need for public hearings and enables the immediate granting of the requested frequencies. It also instructs the authorities to avoid “any monopolistic conduct” by an airline, an airport or ramp service operator, or any other provider of the air transport system.

The measure, which removes from Aerolíneas Argentinas the exclusivity of certain routes and frequencies, was questioned by Pablo Biró, general secretary of the Association of Airline Pilots (APLA). The union leader said that “The government is absolutely throwing away all of our sovereignty” and that “security is among the risks.”

Biro pointed out that “This is a total deregulation of the commercial aviation system” that “It doesn’t work anywhere in the world and in the places where it was implemented, it left countries disconnected and at the mercy of speculation… Fares are deregulated in order to lower fares, drive you bankrupt and then after they succeed, they raise them.”

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