Argentina’s aviation regulator this week approved the application of Norwegian Air Argentina to operate as many as 153 routes based on an application filed in August (Scroll down to “PEDIDO IX”). The approval is for a 15-year license and allows Norwegian Air Argentina to fly the specific routes on a fleet of Boeing 787-8/9 Dreamliners, 737-800s, 737 MAX 8s, and Airbus A321LRs. The ruling grants permission but does not require the flights to operate.
The approved routes cover more than 500 weekly frequencies. Some 300 of them are domestic flights, with hubs in five cities: Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Mendoza, Rosario and Salta. There are a few additional routes not from those hubs as well.
Map generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz.
Only nine of the 75 domestic routes are approved for more than daily frequencies or greater, all from Buenos Aires.
Map generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz.
For the international route network Buenos Aires is also the main focus, particularly for the long-haul routes. And looking at the list of destinations chosen it seems like it was something of a shotgun approach, naming everything that might be ever considered. Not a bad plan, really, and it seems to have worked as all but a handful were approved (it is unclear if the 3 denied were domestic or international). That said, there are some really, really sexy lines on the map. International routes would also need approval from the foreign government, so that is a consideration for the potential operations.
Map generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz.
That’s a pretty busy map. Here’s a somewhat better look of what could happen, split up more regionally (click ’em for better views).
Map generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz.
Map generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz.
Map generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz.
Map generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz.
Only four of the international routes have daily frequency or better, and they max at two for all but London.
Map generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz.
Somewhat surprisingly, Barcelona is not a daily destination. That route does have competition, including from IAG’s new long-haul LCC LEVEL. Maybe avoiding the LCC fare war bloodbath is a good idea, but when it comes to competing frequencies are a big part of that effort.
Norwegian can cherry-pick leisure travelers with flights a couple times a week (132 of the routes are only set to operate 2-3 times per week) and search for profitable opportunities.
Clearly not all of these will operate, but wow is it fun to think about some of these lines.
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it’s funny they’re making airlines waste time with this route authority exercise in which
(a) airlines submit everything theoretically possible that has nothing to do with commercial viability, and
(b) the regulatory essentially blanket approves it (the 3 denied were just to pretend they actually looked at it)
No LAS?
Wish SWF was on the long haul list!
Can’t get from SWF to Argentina on a 737 and I strongly doubt the 787s are coming in any time soon.
Just a clarification: there’s still another step, which is for the Argentinian “DOT” equivalent to actually approve these routes.
What happened yesterday is that the JATA (Air Transport Advisory Board) proposed these routes to be approved, but then the “AR DOT” has to review what the JATA said and publish the administrative act.
The most likely thing to happen is that they approve everything the JATA says, or even a little more (e.g., in March the JATA recommended the approval of 78 routes for Flybondi, but then the AR DOT approved 85)
The 3 routes that were not approved for Norwegian Air Argentina were: Córdoba – Rosario, Córdoba – Bariloche and Córdoba – El Calafate.
Anyway, a lot of bureaucracy over here…..it is what has kept our commercial aviation industry so behind