The decision was made known last Friday, April 5: Aerolíneas Argentinas will stop flying – the statement uses the word “suspend” – the route between Ezeiza airport and John F. Kennedy airport, in New York, in the United States.
The withdrawal of the airline from this destination will occur since August 10“with the aim of increasing the productivity of its fleet in the most profitable destinations,” the company points out.
Currently, Aerolíneas Argentinas has three flights per week.
The argument is that based on this decision, the offer to Miami and Madrid can be increased to two daily flights.
It is also expected to improve frequencies to the Caribbean and Rome.
It is important to clarify that airline passengers will be able to continue flying to New York via codeshare flights that are offered with the “partner” Delta.
In a price search on the Airlines website for current flights, until August, you can see as an example:
- from May 27 to June 8, from 1,417,673 pesos round trip, non-stop
- from July 29 to August 9, from 1,189,496 pesos, non-stop round trip.
What to do if I already have tickets purchased
Los passengers who already have their tickets air tickets to fly to New York, with a date after August 10 “will be relocated on direct flights of other airlines or, alternatively, on flights via Miami.”
From Aerolíneas Argentinas they clarify that “this communication will be made directly with the passengers or with the ticket-issuing agencies.”
In terms of tourist’s right, Lawyer Santiago Aramburu points out that in these cases companies offer a change of destination or date. These relocations should have no additional cost to the passenger.
“If the passenger accepts, there is no problem. If not, the money will be returned for the service that the passenger paid for and could not use“, he explains and adds that to all this some may add, “after demonstration in court or administrative channels, the damage that this could have caused.”
In case of requesting a refund, “it can be discussed whether the money returned is the price that one paid at the time, or the price that the ticket to that destination is worth today. This is the legally debatable“, concludes the specialist.
Why Aerolíneas Argentinas stops flying to New York
It was already said at the beginning and also last week, when this decision was announced. The company also mentions: unfavorable numbers for this route: “During February and March of this year alone, the EZE-JFK route yielded negative numbers of nearly 250 thousand dollars. For the year, a total loss of over a million dollars was projected.”
Added to this is the need to consolidate “a permanent evaluation policy on the profitability of routes in the face of an extremely volatile aeronautical market. The path chosen in this scenario was to reinforce and prioritize the operation to the destinations of greatest economic benefit for the company.”