On 4 December 2019, parent company Norwegian Air Shuttle sold the airline to JetSmart, which took over operation of the airline and its license with immediate effect, with JetSmart planning to merge Norwegian Air Argentina's operations with those of JetSmart Argentina.[3] By November 2020, the airline was inoperative with its aircraft placed in long-term storage since March 2020,[4] with the aircraft returning to Norwegian's operations in Europe at a later date.
History
Norwegian Air Argentina was established on 25 January 2017,[2] in order to access future traffic rights to and from Argentina and South America for the parent company. Norwegian Air Shuttle, Norwegian Air International, Norwegian Air UK and Norwegian Air Argentina share the same branding under the Norwegian Group.
The airline took delivery of its first aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, in mid-January 2018, and gained its air operator's certificate later that month.[5][6] The aircraft was transferred from Norwegian's Irish subsidiary Norwegian Air International, and its Anders Celsiustailfin portrait was replaced by a portrait of Astor Piazzola, an Argentine musician.[5][7] However, according to Bjørn Kjos, the parent company's CEO, due to delays in Boeing 737 MAX deliveries resulting in further delays to the airline starting service, the aircraft was transferred back to operate on the Norwegian Group's network in Europe while the start of operations was moved from August 2018 to October 2018.[8]
On 16 October 2018, Norwegian Air Argentina inaugurated service with three daily round trip flights; the first flight operated as flight DN 6022 from Buenos Aires Aeroparque to Córdoba, taking off at 07:41 and landing at 08:45 local time, followed by a round trip flight from Buenos Aires to Mendoza and a second daily frequency to Córdoba.[1]
In April 2019, following the grounding of the Norwegian Group's Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, the airline transferred one of its Boeing 737-800 aircraft back to Norwegian Air International to assist with the Norwegian Group's operations in Europe.[12] In June 2019, the airline announced service to five additional destinations from Buenos Aires Aeroparque to begin from September 2019, consisting of Comodoro Rivadavia, Puerto Madryn, San Salavador de Jujuy, Trelew, and Ushuaia, however by September 2019, only the routes to San Salvador de Jujuy and Ushuaia ultimately launched.[13]
Following the departure of Bjørn Kjos as parent company Norwegian Air Shuttle's CEO in July 2019, interim CEO Geir Karlsen stated that Norwegian Air Argentina's operations would be reviewed, with an August 2019 deadline for financial results to improve, and tickets for flights were not sold beyond 28 March 2020.[14] On 4 December 2019, Norwegian Air Argentina was sold for an undisclosed amount to Indigo Partners subsidiary and Chilean low-cost airline JetSmart, which took over operations of the airline with immediate effect. For the months following the sale, JetSmart had planned to phase out the Norwegian brand and integrate the airline with its own Argentine airline JetSmart Argentina. Norwegian Air Argentina's three Boeing 737 aircraft, owned by Norwegian Air Shuttle but registered in Argentina, were not among the company's assets sold to JetSmart, and were planned to be returned to Norwegian's Europe-based operations while JetSmart would instate Airbus A320 family aircraft in their place.[3][15]
In the months following the transfer of most of Norwegian Air Argentina's assets and operations to JetSmart in December 2019, JetSmart had wet-leased Norwegian's Boeing 737s to operate the airline's flights at Aeroparque while renaming the company to "JetSmart Regional".[16][17] This was in contrast to JetSmart's operations at El Palomar Airport, which were separately listed as being operated by JetSmart Argentina, until JetSmart would launch its own A320 services at Aeroparque.[18] JetSmart had also encountered obstacles during Norwegian Air Argentina's integration with JetSmart's own Argentina-based operations, including disagreements with unions representing Norwegian's employees over new job contracts following the retaining of their employment in the transfer, and that Argentina's Civil Aviation Administration had not yet authorized the transfer of Norwegian's route authorities to JetSmart Argentina in time for the return of Norwegian's 737s to Europe by the end of March 2020.[16][19] In the uncertainty of its A320-based operations at Aeroparque going ahead, JetSmart sought to extend the wet-lease agreement of Norwegian's 737s to continue operating routes from Aeroparque, however following the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on aviation, JetSmart ended the agreement by the end of May 2020 and the 737s remained stored since that March.[20][21]
On 25 October 2017, the National Civil Aviation Administration granted the airline permission to begin operations on 152 of the 156 routes it requested.[22][23][24][25] The airline has also applied and been given approval for flights from Buenos Aires to Perth and has also requested to extend the flight to Singapore. This flight would route around Antarctica, taking advantage of the winds circling the continent.[26]
The airline operated to the following destinations as of March 2020, prior to its aircraft being stored:
