American Jet (Argentina) (AJB, San Fernando, AR) has announced plans to enter the scheduled passenger market and add up to nine aircraft starting in 2025.
In a brief announcement on social media, the charter specialist said it is targeting 50- to 100- seaters, which will allow it to launch “regional regular routes”. Pilots and cabin crew are already being recruited. ch-aviation has reached out to American Jet for added comment.
American Jet was approved to offer scheduled passenger flights in 2017 by the Argentine government. At that time, the carrier sought to run flights from Neuquén to domestic destinations such as Comodoro Rivadavia, Rio Gallegos, El Calafate, Rio Grande Hermes Quijada, Ushuaia, Mendoza International, Salta, Córdoba International, Tucumán, Resistencia, Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini, Bahia Blanca, and Mar del Plata. Additionally, it planned to fly to Temuco La Araucanía, Santiago de Chile, Punta Arenas International, Tarija, Asuncion, Punta del Este, and Porto Alegre International internationally.
However, it only ran scheduled flights in January 2020 between Buenos Aires and Termas de Río Hondo. Shortly after, the Covid-19 pandemic thwarted all plans, forcing the carrier to continue with its mainstay charters, including on behalf of the provincial government of La Rioja and its provincial airline, Alas La Rioja, between 2022 and 2023.
In an interview earlier this year, American Jet's director, Claudio Ortiz Belgoff, said the two EMB-145LRs in its fleet had the perfect capacity - 50 seats in an all-economy configuration, to cater for the leisure market between Argentina, Uruguay, and Bolivia.
American Jet has an air operator's certificate (AOC) valid until June 2025, according to Argentina’s civil aviation authority (Administración Nacional de Aviación Civil - ANAC).
The ch-aviation fleets module shows American Jet operates a fleet of five aircraft - one ATR42-320, one ATR42-600, one Do228-200, and two E145s. According to its website, it also has one Beech 1900D, one Learjet 55/60, one Learjet 31A, and one Bell Helicopter 429.
