Argentina and United Kingdom"™s governments issued a joint letter to UK embassies in Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay requesting assistance in contacting airlines in their respective countries to invite them to communicate their interest in establishing a new weekly scheduled air service to and from the Falkland Islands.
This step is the first towards the opening of a new route from South America continental soil to Mount Pleasant Airport since 1997, when former Chilean Carrier LAN (now merged with Brazilian TAM into LATAM holding) started operating a weekly flight between Punta Arenas and the islands using an Airbus A320 aircraft.
The letter read: "Those proposals will be assessed by the competent aeronautical authorities, regarding their viability and convenience, and on these basis the corresponding authorizations will duly be awarded."
As per the negotiation conditions, no Argentine based carrier can bid for the route.
At the end of the Request for Proposal timeline, which was set for the end of February, several carriers expressed interest in operating the new frequency, that will perform a monthly stop in Argentina. Companies from Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile are moving forward with the bid. Sources say that LATAM Brazil, Avianca Brazil, and GOL are more openly interested and are pressing to obtain the route…
