01/15/2021 2:18 PM
Clarín.com
Economy
Updated 01/15/2021 2:18 PM
Airfare could become more expensive as a result of the government's decision to increase
a rate charged by Aeropuertos Argentina 2000,
the concessionaire of the country's airports, to international airlines.
The measure has already generated the
rejection of the companies
.
IATA (International Air Transport Association), Jurca (the Chamber of Air Companies in Argentina) and Alta (Latin American airlines) sent a letter to Carlos Lugones, head of Orsna, the body that regulates airports,
concerned about the increase
and impact that the rate hike may have on the hit aviation business and
calling for the measure to be reviewed.
Specifically, Orsna Resolution 4/2021 -which was published in the Official Gazette on Wednesday- says that the Domestic Air Station Use Rates
will remain frozen until 2022
so as not to "affect competitiveness and productivity while the recovery of the sector is generated. ".
But that there is a "need to readjust the current Tariff Table with a variation in the
International Aerospace Use Rate (TUAI)
" as a tool to generate an economically sustainable performance path for the set of air terminals in charge of Airports Argentina 2000, with the least impact on users that has been possible to envision. "
The rate increase, which is currently US $ 51, will be US $ 6 per international passenger, that is, an increase of 11.8%.
This is one of the fees that passengers pay when buying a ticket.
The rate variation will govern with respect to tickets issued as of the day following the publication of the Resolution in the Official Gazette to be used
as of March 15, 2021.
In the letter sent to Orsna, the companies state that the 11.8% increase in the rate "would imply
an artificial increase in prices
that in turn would lead to
a greater contraction in demand
, which is currently contracted, deepening the crisis in the sector and preventing the recovery of the Argentine international air market ".
The airlines assure that the airport cost in Argentina
is "higher than in most airports in Latin America;
in several cases it is more than 100% more expensive."
According to the companies, with this increase, "the Argentine Government imposes
additional obstacles to the recovery of international air transport,
instead of allowing the recovery of the industry and therefore the restart of tourism and related activities through financial relief" .
The associations also stated that by freezing domestic and regional rates, it goes against the principle of non-discrimination of the International Civil Aviation Organization, deepening the current asymmetry in which international passengers pay twice as much as their peers on regional flights. and up to twenty times more than domestics for the same service.
In the letter, the entities complain that freezing domestic flight rates and raising international rates is "inequitable" and "contrary to recommended practices" and they
ask that the increase
in the TUA for international passengers
be reconsidered
and Allow international air transportation to continue at the rate of US $ 51.
NE
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