LATAM is officially closing down its Argentinian branch, LAN Argentina, after 15 years of operations. The carrier hasn’t been flying since June 17, 2020. However, ongoing negotiations were taking place with its employees regarding a voluntary scheme of early retirement. But now, that’s also over.
LAN Argentina is gone; now what?
The unfortunate news of LAN Argentina ceasing operations is not surprising. The airline had already stopped flying last year due to the uncertainty of the Argentinian landscape.
The Argentinian government kept one of the most rigid travel restrictions globally, leaving the Argentinian airline industry struggling, with a 99% decline in passengers for half of the year. By December, it had recovered just 10% of its previous passenger traffic numbers.
In the meantime, LATAM Airlines Group filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May. The conglomerate included every airline branch it had in the process, except for two: LATAM Paraguay and LAN Argentina.
Shortly after, LATAM announced that LAN Argentina would be put on hold indefinitely. Now that’s becoming permanent. In a statement seen by Simple Flying, LAN Argentina said,
“The impact generated by the COVID-19 pandemic on the Argentinian branch, and the impossibility to create multiple necessary agreements to face the current situation led to an extremely complex scenario where it wasn’t possible to create a viable and sustainable project.”
Therefore, LAN Argentina is stopping its operations after 15 years in the country…
