NORWAY: Norwegian To Launch Flights To Brazil From London And Argentina

Norwegian Air Shuttle plans to fly to Brazil from Argentina and London to boost its month-old operations in South America, chief executive Bjorn Kjos said in an interview in Buenos Aires.

The Scandinavian company has already received authorization from the Argentine government to operate flights to 13 Brazilian cities.

Norwegian is evaluating flying in other Latin American nations, Kjos said, declining to give more details.

We serve a lot of places in the US and in Europe, but South America is our focus in 2018, said Kjos.

There are other countries with priority in South America that are not that well served.

The airline is entering a busy market, and will need to push its low-cost flights to stand out.

Those flying to Europe already include Latam Airlines Group, TAP-Transportes Aereos Portugueses SGPS and Air France-KLM, the latter two of which are backed by local operators Azul SA and Gol Linha Aereas Inteligentes SA, respectively.

Norwegian is one of several low-cost carriers jumping into Argentina amid president Mauricio Macri’s push to open routes to new players and lower consumer costs in Argentina.

It began flying from Buenos Aires to London in February. In December, Norwegian Air got the go-ahead from Argentinian authorities to operate up to 72 domestic and as many as 80 international routes.


Tourism Observer

COLOMBIA: Avianca Starts Flights To Argentina

Colombia’s flagship carrier, Avianca, has been given a 15-year concession to operate within the South American nation starting July 11.

As part Avianca’s continuing expansion across the continent, German Efromovich, Avianca’s Chief Executive Officer, had been in talks with Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri to open routes in a restrictive market, dominated by the country’s main carrier, Aerolineas Argentinas.

Avianca will begin by operating a daily flight between Buenos Aires and Reconquista (Santa Fe).

We have to connect Argentina, a country with fewer internal flights than 30 years ago, said German Efromovich to La .

The ambitious plans include connecting the capital, Buenos Aires, with planned hubs in Cordoba, Mendoza, Iguazú, Rosario, Tucumán, Salta and Jujuy.

A total of 16 domestic routes are part of the concession.

Avianca’s incursion in Argentina amounts to an investment of US$180 million dollars, the acquisition of six planes costing US$25 million each and US$30 to US$40 million in start-up costs.

The CEO aims to move 125,000 passengers before the end this year.

In March, Argentina’s Anti-corruption Office (OA) launched an investigation into a possible conflict of interest when in 2016 the Macri family sold their airline MacAir Jet to the shareholders of Avianca’s local holding company, Avian S.A.

The OA shelved the probe last month claiming there were no issues as the Macri family business was founded back in 1993 and the sale was no guarantee to Avianca’s entry into the local market.

By offering a foreign-based airline access to domestic tourism, Efromovich believes Argentines will welcome greater competition.

I don’t know if it’s expensive to fly in Argentina, but it’s going to be cheaper when we fly, he said.

As a member of Star Alliance, passengers flying within Argentina will be able to accumulate miles with other affiliated airlines that include United, Lufthansa, Air Canada and Singapore Airlines.


Tourism Observer

ARGENTINA: Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri Wins Argentine Presidential Elections

Mr Scioli is the governor of Buenos Aires province and is backed by former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who succeeded her late husband Néstor Kirchner. Argentines are choosing between opposition leader Mauricio Macri and Vice President Daniel Scioli,

Scioli has focused his campaigning on trying to demonize Macri, suggesting that he will bring austerity measures that will cut consumer spending and cause a surge in unemployment and poverty.

Scioli, Fernandez's handpicked successor who many had been expecting to sail to an election victory in October, launched attack ads against Macri in the days leading up to the runoff.

For Fernandez, who's slated to leave office in December after eight years at the helm, it was a test of whether her populist political legacy would endure. Argentina's Vice President Daniel Scioli, center, watched as Cristina Fernandez received the presidential cane from her husband, outgoing President Nestor Kirchner, after being sworn in.

Scioli conceded defeat as he called Macri to offer his congratulations on the victory.

The increasingly tense campaign was fought on shifting political ground in the vast South American nation of 42 million people. But neither candidate won outright, forcing Argentina's first-ever runoff.

The local Merval stock index has shot up 25 percent since Macri's muscular performance in the first round, as investors factored in the possibility he will win the run-off and free up markets by dismantling currency and trade controls. Final results are expected later Sunday.

Polling stations will open from 8 am local time to 6 pm local time. However, they are allowed to project a victor when the polls close. The exit polls are done by media companies such as C5N and Canal America.

The polls have closed in Argentina's presidential election. There were no reports of large scale disturbances. Voting was due to close at 2100 GMT with first results expected in the following hours. The surveys show that about 4.7 percent of voters remained undecided with another 3.2 percent planning to cast blank votes.

In Argentine, voting is compulsory for all people aged between 18 and 70, but optional for those under 18 and over 70.

In the fifteen minutes long speech Scioli strongly condemned statements from Jaime Duran Barba, who is Macri's campaign strategist and quoted saying that "no citizen votes asking the Pope whom he should support", and added that Francis "doesn't change not even ten votes in an election".

"The streets in peace, people working and taking vacation - we have never had a period of government with this reality of economic stability and progress", Fernandez said.

Whoever is sworn in on December 10 will inherit a yawning fiscal deficit that Ms Fernandez has financed by printing pesos, contributing to double digit inflation. But a source at the election body said the result trend was irreversible at this point of vote counting.