Norwegian Air Argentina S.A.U.
IATA ICAO Callsign
DN NAA NORUEGA
Founded25 January 2017
Commenced operations16 October 2018
Ceased operationsMarch 2020
Operating basesBuenos Aires–Aeroparque
Frequent-flyer programNorwegian Reward
Fleet size3
Destinations9
Parent companyNorwegian Air Shuttle (2017-2019)
JetSmart (2019-2020)
Key peopleOle Christian Melhus (CEO), Bjørn Kjos
Employees120[1]
Websitewww.norwegian.com/ar

Norwegian Air Argentina S.A.U. was an Argentine low-cost airline. The airline operated Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with bases in Buenos Aires and Córdoba. All aircraft were registered in Argentina.[2]

On 4 December 2019, parent company Norwegian Air Shuttle sold the airline to JetSmart, which took over operation of the airline and its license with immediate effect, with JetSmart planning to merge Norwegian Air Argentina's operations with those of JetSmart Argentina.[3] By November 2020, the airline was inoperative with its aircraft placed in long-term storage since March 2020,[4] with the aircraft returning to Norwegian's operations in Europe at a later date.

History

Norwegian Air Argentina was established on 25 January 2017,[2] in order to access future traffic rights to and from Argentina and South America for the parent company. Norwegian Air Shuttle, Norwegian Air International, Norwegian Air UK and Norwegian Air Argentina share the same branding under the Norwegian Group.

The airline took delivery of its first aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, in mid-January 2018, and gained its air operator's certificate later that month.[5][6] The aircraft was transferred from Norwegian's Irish subsidiary Norwegian Air International, and its Anders Celsius tailfin portrait was replaced by a portrait of Astor Piazzola, an Argentine musician.[5][7] However, according to Bjørn Kjos, the parent company's CEO, due to delays in Boeing 737 MAX deliveries resulting in further delays to the airline starting service, the aircraft was transferred back to operate on the Norwegian Group's network in Europe while the start of operations was moved from August 2018 to October 2018.[8]

In August 2018, Bjørn Kjos announced that the airline would begin selling tickets from 4 September 2018, for flights beginning service on 16 October 2018.[9] Upon ticket reservations opening, the first planned services were revealed to operate from Buenos Aires Aeroparque to Córdoba, Mendoza, Neuquén, Puerto Iguazú, Salta, and San Carlos de Bariloche.[10] In preparation for the inaugural start of operations, the airline's first Boeing 737-800 was transferred back from Norwegian Air International and flown from Stockholm Arlanda Airport to Ezeiza International Airport between 5 and 6 October 2018, with technical stops at Gran Canaria Airport and Greater Natal International Airport, before the aircraft was ferried to Aeroparque Jorge Newbery on 15 October 2018.[11]

On 16 October 2018, Norwegian Air Argentina inaugurated service with three daily round trip flights; the first flight operated as flight DN 6022 from Buenos Aires Aeroparque to Córdoba, taking off at 07:41 and landing at 08:45 local time, followed by a round trip flight from Buenos Aires to Mendoza and a second daily frequency to Córdoba.[1]

LV-ITK, Boeing 737-800 departing Aeroparque Jorge Newbery

In April 2019, following the grounding of the Norwegian Group's Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, the airline transferred one of its Boeing 737-800 aircraft back to Norwegian Air International to assist with the Norwegian Group's operations in Europe.[12] In June 2019, the airline announced service to five additional destinations from Buenos Aires Aeroparque to begin from September 2019, consisting of Comodoro Rivadavia, Puerto Madryn, San Salavador de Jujuy, Trelew, and Ushuaia, however by September 2019, only the routes to San Salvador de Jujuy and Ushuaia ultimately launched.[13]

Following the departure of Bjørn Kjos as parent company Norwegian Air Shuttle's CEO in July 2019, interim CEO Geir Karlsen stated that Norwegian Air Argentina's operations would be reviewed, with an August 2019 deadline for financial results to improve, and tickets for flights were not sold beyond 28 March 2020.[14] On 4 December 2019, Norwegian Air Argentina was sold for an undisclosed amount to Indigo Partners subsidiary and Chilean low-cost airline JetSmart, which took over operations of the airline with immediate effect. For the months following the sale, JetSmart had planned to phase out the Norwegian brand and integrate the airline with its own Argentine airline JetSmart Argentina. Norwegian Air Argentina's three Boeing 737 aircraft, owned by Norwegian Air Shuttle but registered in Argentina, were not among the company's assets sold to JetSmart, and were planned to be returned to Norwegian's Europe-based operations while JetSmart would instate Airbus A320 family aircraft in their place.[3][15]

In the months following the transfer of most of Norwegian Air Argentina's assets and operations to JetSmart in December 2019, JetSmart had wet-leased Norwegian's Boeing 737s to operate the airline's flights at Aeroparque while renaming the company to "JetSmart Regional".[16][17] This was in contrast to JetSmart's operations at El Palomar Airport, which were separately listed as being operated by JetSmart Argentina, until JetSmart would launch its own A320 services at Aeroparque.[18] JetSmart had also encountered obstacles during Norwegian Air Argentina's integration with JetSmart's own Argentina-based operations, including disagreements with unions representing Norwegian's employees over new job contracts following the retaining of their employment in the transfer, and that Argentina's Civil Aviation Administration had not yet authorized the transfer of Norwegian's route authorities to JetSmart Argentina in time for the return of Norwegian's 737s to Europe by the end of March 2020.[16][19] In the uncertainty of its A320-based operations at Aeroparque going ahead, JetSmart sought to extend the wet-lease agreement of Norwegian's 737s to continue operating routes from Aeroparque, however following the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on aviation, JetSmart ended the agreement by the end of May 2020 and the 737s remained stored since that March.[20][21]

Destinations

On 25 October 2017, the National Civil Aviation Administration granted the airline permission to begin operations on 152 of the 156 routes it requested.[22][23][24][25] The airline has also applied and been given approval for flights from Buenos Aires to Perth and has also requested to extend the flight to Singapore. This flight would route around Antarctica, taking advantage of the winds circling the continent.[26]

The airline operated to the following destinations as of March 2020, prior to its aircraft being stored:

Country City Airport Notes Refs
ArgentinaBuenos AiresAeroparque Jorge NewberyBase[10]
CórdobaIngeniero Aeronáutico Ambrosio L.V. Taravella International Airport[10]
MendozaGovernor Francisco Gabrielli International Airport[10]
NeuquénPresidente Perón International Airport[10]
Puerto IguazúCataratas del Iguazú International Airport[10]
SaltaMartín Miguel de Güemes International Airport[10]
San Carlos de BarilocheSan Carlos de Bariloche Airport[10]
San Salvador de JujuyGobernador Horacio Guzmán International Airport[13]
UshuaiaUshuaia – Malvinas Argentinas International Airport[13]

Fleet

The Norwegian Air Argentina fleet consisted of the following aircraft as of 19 March 2020, prior to being returned to Europe:[27]

Norwegian Air Argentina fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers Notes
Boeing 737-800 3 — 189 Originally transferred from Norwegian Air International.
Originally planned to operate 10 aircraft.[28]
Wet leased from Norwegian Air Shuttle prior to storage.[17][20]
Total 3 —

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Norwegian Air Argentina takes to the skies". American Journal of Transportation. 17 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Norwegian starts push into Argentine market". ch-aviation. ch-aviation GmbH. 26 January 2017.
  3. 1 2 Robins, Jonathan (4 December 2019). "Norwegian sells Argentinian unit to JetSmart". FlightGlobal. DVV Media International Limited. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  4. ↑ "Norwegian unveils 'New Norwegian' amid continued existential challenge". 28 April 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Norwegian Air Argentina incorporates first aircraft: CAPA Fleet Database". CAPA - Centre for Aviation. 15 January 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  6. ↑ Flottau, Jens (29 January 2018). "Norwegian Air Argentina is granted AOC". Air Transport World. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018.
  7. ↑ "EI-FVO Norwegian Air International Boeing 737-8JP(WL)". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  8. ↑ Diaz, Pablo (25 April 2018). "Norwegian Air Argentina Returns Its First Aircraft Before Starting Operations". AirlineGeeks.com. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  9. ↑ Catalano, Sebastián (23 August 2018). "Bjørn Kjos, CEO global de la low cost Norwegian: "Empezamos a vender pasajes en Argentina el 4 de septiembre y a volar el 16 de octubre"" [Bjørn Kjos, CEO of low-cost Norwegian: "We will start to sell tickets in Argentina on 4 September and fly on 16 October"]. Infobae (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Liu, Jim (6 September 2018). "Norwegian Air Argentina outlines initial operations from Oct 2018". Routesonline. UBM (UK) Ltd. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  11. ↑ Gimenez Mazó, Edgardo (6 October 2018). "Norwegian Air Argentina calienta los motores: Astor volvió a la Argentina" [Norwegian Air Argentina heats the engines: Astor returns to Argentina]. Aviacionline (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  12. ↑ "EI-FVT Norwegian Air International Boeing 737-8JP(WL)". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  13. 1 2 3 Liu, Jim (13 June 2019). "Norwegian Air Argentina network expansion from Sep 2019". Routesonline. Informa Markets.
  14. ↑ "Norwegian Air Argentina given until Aug-2019 to show good results: 'We're prepared to withdraw'". Blue Swan Daily. CAPA - Centre or Aviation. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  15. ↑ Klesty, Victoria; Solsvik, Terje (4 December 2019). "Norwegian Air sells Argentinian subsidiary to JetSMART". Reuters. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  16. 1 2 "Argentina imposes hurdles to LCC operator JetSMART to operate from Aeroparque". Blue Swan Daily. CAPA - Centre for Aviation. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  17. 1 2 "A fin de mes todos los trabajadores de Norwegian serán empleados de JetSmart" [By the end of the month all Norwegian workers will be employed by JetSmart]. Aviación News (in Spanish). 16 January 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  18. ↑ "JetSMART Argentina to commence operations from Buenos Aires Aeroparque". Blue Swan Daily. CAPA - Centre for Aviation. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  19. ↑ Torres Cabreros, Delfina (28 February 2020). "Aeroparque. JetSmart no consigue autorización para reemplazar aviones de Norwegian y podrían afectarse vuelos" [Aeroparque. JetSmart does not get authorization to replace Norwegian planes and flights could be affected]. La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  20. 1 2 "JetSMART to wet-lease Norwegian Air Argentina B737-800s". ch-aviation. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  21. ↑ "JetSMART drops Norwegian Argentina B737 wet-lease plans". ch-aviation. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  22. ↑ Orban, Andre (26 October 2017). "Argentinian authorities back Norwegian start-up". Aviation24. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  23. ↑ Casey, David (26 October 2017). "Norwegian moves closer to Argentina flights as profits rise". Routesonline. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  24. ↑ Dron, Alan (26 October 2017). "Norwegian posts improved profits as Argentina OKs route requests". Air Transport World. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  25. ↑ Miller, Seth (26 October 2017). "Norwegian Air Argentina routes approved - Wandering Aramean". Wandering Aramean. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  26. ↑ Thomas, Geoffrey (26 February 2018). "Perth stopover on world-first flight linking South America and Asia to boost WA tourism". The West Australian. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  27. ↑ "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World: 4. October 2019.
  28. ↑ Katz, Benjamin (5 April 2017). "Norwegian Air to Expand to Argentina With 10 Aircraft, Says CEO". Bloomberg. Retrieved 7 April 2017.


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