Aerolineas Argentinas, BQB, Gol and LAN-TAM poised to benefit from demise of Uruguay's Pluna

The demise of Pluna has left a large void in the Uruguayan market that will be partially filled through expansion by carriers from neighbouring Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay as well as by tiny Uruguayan regional carrier BQB Air. The Uruguayan Government has opted against bailing out Pluna, which ceased operations on 05-Jul-2012, and is instead now trying to find another carrier (either new or existing) to take over its routes and, potentially, its employees and fleet.

But the end result will almost certainly be the the lack of a network carrier for Uruguay and the sale of Pluna's 13 Bombardier CRJ900 regional jets to overseas buyers. While some of Pluna routes could be taken over by other carriers, there will almost certainly be a steep reduction in traffic at Montevideo's Carrasco International Airport as the Uruguayan market is too small to support more than a handful of point-to-point routes.