Chilean ultra-LCC JetSMART has begun flights to Argentina after obtaining an operating certificate from the Argentinian government.
Having secured a certificate of exploitation of aero-commercial services, JetSMART began flying direct to Cordoba and Mendoza in Argentina from Santiago and La Serena in Chile. Flights to Buenos Aires, the Argentinian capital, followed.
JetSMART was founded in 2017 by US private equity firm Indigo Partners, which specializes in ultra-LCCs. Indigo is also the controlling shareholder of Denver-based Frontier Airlines and owns stakes in Hungary’s Wizz Air and Mexico’s Volaris. The firm is also considering an investment in Iceland’s WOW Air.
The Chilean airline operates nine Airbus A320-200 narrowbodies and expects to add two more aircraft by March 2019, with plans for a fleet of 100 by 2026.
Indigo and its four portfolio airlines concluded a nearly $50 billion purchase agreement with Airbus in December 2017 for 430 aircraft, including 56 A320neos and 14 A321neos for JetSMART.
JetSMART now offers 26 domestic routes and international flights to Lima, Peru, as well the new Argentina destinations.
