Whether domestic or international flights, more and more passengers are flying out from inland cities with the new airlines playing a key role in the new market distribution. A change from the traditional pattern when all flights centred on Buenos Aires like the spokes of a bicycle wheel.

But now some airlines even have their headquarters in inland cities whose air traffic has grown more than twice as much as metropolitan airports with Aeroparque down 7% last month (also losing flights to Ezeiza, which expanded 15%) as against 11% more passengers nationwide..Some inland airports grew far more than this average: Trelew (127%), Puerto Madryn (113%), Mar del Plata and Jujuy (both 72%), a revamped Tucumán (39%), Posadas (38%) and Bahía Blanca (24%) while Córdoba grew 21% last month (25% for the year) and Bariloche 20%.

Neuquén ran 319 flights in the first five months of 2016, 370 in the same period of 2017 and 409 so far this year with the local LASA airline constructing an enormous hangar. Flybondi, a low cost airline operating out of El Palomar, is requesting 361 more routes frrom the Administración Nacional de Aviación Civil (ANAC) to add to the 85 it already has.but of the 186 domestic frequencies requested, only eight start from Buenos Aires and of the 175 international, only 13. But not everybody is growing – El Calafate flights were down 19% last month and Río Gallegos 145% with the problems of Santa Cruz reflecting the decline of Kirchnerism.

International flights follow the same trend. While international flights out of metropolitan airports have grown 7%, Rosario’s passengers have increased 34%, Mendoza 26%, Córdoba 23% and Salta 10%. According to EANA data, Aerolineas Argentinas leads the market with 45%, followed by its sister state airline Austral with 25%, Latam third with 14% and Flybondi in a surprising 4th place, overtaking Andes on 6%. Latam has the best occupancy with 78%,of the seats on its 2,303 international flights filled in May, followed by. Aerolíneas with 69% of its 2,195.

Finally, devaluation is not hurting interest in Argentina’s reduced market since American Airlines CEO Doug Parker has just confirmed to Télam the plans for expansion next year when direct flights from Buenos Aires and Córdoba to Los Ángeles and Miami respectively will be inaugurated.