14ymedio, Madrid, 25 January 2024 — A little over a year and a half after Aerolíneas Argentinas re-established its flights to Cuba, the company has announced that it is canceling them again. This Thursday, according to local media information with inside company sources, the route is not profitable, so starting next March 8 they will suspend the weekly frequency that until now connected the South American country with Havana via Cancun.
Each flight to the Cuban capital from Buenos Aires, airline sources declared to Infobae, had an average of $16,000 in losses. In 2023 alone, the company lost half a million dollars, although, according to Clarín, the figure would have been higher if it had not been subsidized by the Government.
“Those passengers who already purchased their tickets for that destination will be transferred to flights through other airlines at no additional cost”
Those passengers who already purchased their tickets for that destination will be transferred to flights through other airlines at no additional cost. If they wish to cancel their trip as a result of this modification, the full value of the ticket will be refunded”, the company reported.
The measure was taken after the appointment of a new company manager, Fabián Lombardo, who will implement the transfer of shares, from the State to private hands in Aerolíneas Argentinas decreed by the brand-new president, Javier Milei.
Although the previous government of Peronist Alberto Fernández assured that the route to Cuba is “highly requested by agencies and tour operators”, the data showed that Cuba is not a relevant tourist or commercial destination for Argentina.
The company had ceased operations in Havana in 2016. Previously, the Government of Mauricio Macri had made the decision to restructure the airline to reduce the deficit it represented for the State: nationalized in 2008, the company cost to the country was around two million dollars per day.
The savings plan significantly affected the aircrafts and, consequently, the routes operated were reduced
The savings plan significantly affected the aircrafts and, consequently, the routes operated were reduced. At that time, those responsible argued that Cuba had become a very expensive destination, something that the company itself has now confirmed again.
The libertarian Milei already made it clear that “current foreign policy fundamentals differ from the previous one”, regarding his country’s refusal to finally be part of the BRICS group of emerging countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
In his participation at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, he once again reiterated his position regarding economic systems such as the one that governs Cuba, saying that socialism “is, always and everywhere, an impoverishing phenomenon that failed in every country where it was tried. “It was an economic failure, it was a social failure, it was a cultural failure and it also claimed the lives of 150 million human beings.”
14ymedio, Madrid, January 25, 2025 — A little more than half a year after Aerolíneas Argentinas reestablished its flights to Cuba, the company has announced that it is canceling them again. According to local media this Thursday with sources in the company itself, the route is not profitable, so starting next March 8 they will suspend the weekly frequency that until now connected the South American country with Havana via Cancun.
Translated by Norma Whiting
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