Buenos Aires throws open Argentine market to foreign players

Argentine President Javier Milei has authorised foreign crews and aircraft to operate in the country having signed Decree No. 844/2024 on September 23, 2024, which deregulates domestic flights in Argentina and allows foreign carriers to operate domestic flights without registering aircraft or using local staff.

The decree's executive summary says the changes involve "comprehensively reorganising commercial aviation legislation to provide the market with a competitive environment that grants sufficient flexibility to reach all Argentine cities, abandoning an aeronautical policy that has severely limited the commercial aviation sector's development."

Milei's libertarian administration is shaking up the local aviation landscape. Last month, it published Decree 747/2024 which overruled a previous decree that forced all local governments and public entities to use Aerolíneas Argentinas (AR, Buenos Aires Jorge Newbery) and former sister carrier Austral (Buenos Aires Jorge Newbery) to transport officials, employees, and advisors.

The government is also pursuing collective bargaining negotiations with recalcitrant unions, dealing with snap strikes by flight and cabin crew, and moving to privatise Aerolíneas Argentinas. Local outlets report that the new decree is partly a response to the ongoing industrial relations conflict.

Under the revised regulations, the Argentine civil aviation regulator (Administración Nacional de Aviación Civil - ANAC) will be responsible for authorising foreign operators to use their foreign-registered aircraft and employees on local routes, when that operator requests to do so.

The general secretary of the country's cabin crew union, one of the labour outfits at loggerheads with the government, said the new decree could see fewer Argentines employed in the industry. "If we have a problem with job creation today, this will make it worse,” Juan Pablo Brey told the Todo Noticias outlet. "It is one more resolution from an infantile government."

The new decree will come into force 60 days after it was issued.