Summary
- Aerolíneas Argentinas (AR) has discontinued its route to New York, causing annual losses of around $1 million.
- The airline is shifting its focus to safer and more lucrative destinations such as Miami and Madrid.
- SkyTeam partner Delta Air Lines continues to offer flights to New York despite AR’s withdrawal.
As Simple Flying reported in April this year, Aerolíneas Argentinas has decided to abandon the New York-Buenos Aires route due to high losses and expansion interests elsewhere. The airline operated its last service in this sector last week with an Airbus A330, marking the end of an era. The only remaining US destination in its network is Miami.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy flying
A costly route
The flight to New York JFK costs the airline around $1 million in losses annually, according to a report published by El Cronista in April. Citing sources, it said the New York route was simply unprofitable, with 
Aerolines Argentinas (AR) prefers flights to safer and more lucrative destinations, including Miami and Madrid. In February and March alone, the Argentine airline lost $250,000, according to El Cronista.
Aerolines Argentinas
- IATA/ICAO code
- AR/ARG
- Year of foundation
- 1949
- Managing Director
- Pablo Ceriani
The airline hopes to minimize losses by redistributing its fleet to other destinations. Although it will not be offering its own flights to New York, the route will still be bookable, albeit through SkyTeam partner Delta Air Lines.
The cancellation of the flight to New York is part of a gradual restructuring of AR’s entire operations. In parallel with the cuts in the US, the airline’s new management also canceled the flight from Buenos Aires to Havana (Cuba) in March. Local media reported that this resulted in losses of over $500,000.
The last flight
The last return flight to New York was operated last week by an Airbus A330-200 with the registration LV-KHT. According to Flightradar24 data, the aircraft is 13 years old. The outbound flight (with the flight number AR1300) left Buenos Aires on August 9 at 00:21, almost half an hour late. It landed on time at 09:41, 25 minutes ahead of schedule.
Photo: Carlos Yudica | Shutterstock.
The return flight left the USA the following day at 09:03 a.m. and landed in the Argentine capital at 20:32 p.m., about 20 minutes late.
Aviation Week reports that the flight began in 1950 and continued until 2008. It was re-run in 2013 and continued until it was discontinued last week.
Current frequencies and competition
Aerolíneas Argentinas operates the route three times a week with an Airbus A330. Cirium data shows that the only other competitor on this service is 
American Airlines which offers daily flights with Boeing 777-200. American Airlines has a much larger market share than AR. This is probably one of the reasons why the airline has struggled to be successful on this route.
Delta Air Lines will resume flights on the EZE-JFK sector this winter. As data from Cirium shows, operations were suspended in June. The airline has been using an Airbus A330-900 on this flight and will continue to do so when it resumes in October. Flights with the A330neo are already available from New York starting October 26.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy flying
In addition to significantly increasing operations in Madrid and Miami, the airline is also looking to expand in other areas, including its short- and medium-haul network to Brazil. In October, the airline will launch a Santiago-Buenos Aires Aeroparque-Rio de Janeiro triangular flight and a Santiago-Buenos Aires-Sao Paulo triangular flight, both of which will operate daily.
