The Argentinian low-cost carrier Flybondi is set to receive its fifth and sixth aircraft, allowing the carrier to recover and outgrow its pre-pandemic capacity levels. Additionally, Flybondi has restarted its international connectivity, flying to Brazil and Uruguay from Buenos Aires. Let’s investigate further.
New aircraft coming
On Friday, a Boeing 737-800, registration LV-KCD, departed from Toulouse-Blagnac International Airport en route to Buenos Aires, Argentina. According to ch-aviation’s database, LV-KCD was first delivered to Kenya Airways in December 2006. The African carrier used the narrowbody until 2015; then Jeju Air received it and flew with it until 2021. Macquarie AirFinance owns the airplane.
According to RadarBox.com.com, the B737-800 had two stopovers before landing in Buenos Aires. It first landed at Sal International Airport in Cabo Verde. From there, it flew to Recife, Brazil, and then to Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires.
Flybondi’s new aircraft has the capacity to carry up to 189 passengers. LV-KCD is the fifth aircraft of the airline in Argentina, and Flybondi expects to receive a sixth plane next month.
Doubling the capacity
Flybondi plans to grow even more in the next months. According to the airline, it wants to have a fleet of up to ten Boeing B737-800 during 2022’s first half.
Mauricio Sana, Flybondi CEO, recently said in a statement,
“After the recovery achieved in 2021, we announced a growth plan for the next two years that will be historic for Flybondi and will have a huge positive impact on the country. We want to double the number of passengers who fly with us today, and for that, we will add twice as many aircraft to our fleet in the next six months, in addition to new international and national destinations and more frequencies. This plan will allow us to hire 450 people, creating new jobs in the industry. We are convinced, as we have since the first day, of our purpose: that all people have the freedom to fly, with the best rates on the market and with an excellent service.”
Flybondi’s new fleet will allow the company to create up to US$420 million in economic activity in Argentina.
Currently, Flybondi has a fleet of five aircraft, with an average age of 16.8 years old, according to ch-aviation.
Resuming connectivity
Despite Argentina’s announcement to introduce fare bands for domestic flights and prohibiting international tickets from being financed in installments paid with credit cards, Flybondi is looking to increase its connectivity from Buenos Aires.
Currently, the airline is flying from Buenos Aires Ezeiza to Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Florianopolis in Brazil. It is also connecting with Punta del Este, Uruguay. Flybondi restarted its international route map in December 2021.
Domestically, Flybondi has 13 destinations: Buenos Aires, Bariloche, Corrientes, Córdoba, Jujuy, Mendoza, Neuquén, Posadas, Iguazú, Salta, Santiago del Estero, Trelew, and Tucumán. In mid-January, the airline will add a new destination, Ushuaia, at the very Southern tip of the country. Flybondi has a domestic market share of 15%, behind Aerolíneas Argentinas; it competes directly with JetSMART.
Mauricio Sana added,
We are already flying to the region, and we are excited that the Argentinians, Brazilians, and Uruguayans can travel with us. After more than a year and a half without flying internationally, we returned with a very good load factor, which shows the recovery that the sector is going through.”
Have you had the opportunity to fly with Flybondi? How was your experience? Let us know in the comments below.
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