Paraguay

Boliviana de Aviacion set to expand as re-launch of Aerosur is unlikely due to government roadblocks

Bolivia’s Government has reportedly rejected a bailout plan for beleaguered Aerosur, which ceased operations in May-2012 after buckling under mounting tax burdens. The latest move adds fuel to arguments repeatedly made by Aerosur's private owners of the Bolivian Government showing a bias towards state-owned Boliviana de Aviacion (BoA) since BoA launched operations in 2009. BoA immediately drove down domestic fares in Bolivia and quickly captured a domestic market share equal to Aerosur.

BoA also launched international operations in 2010 and is now poised to accelerate expansion of its international network, which currently consists of only two destinations. Aerosur was Bolivia's largest international carrier and its demise creates opportunities for BoA, the country's small regional carriers and the 10 foreign carriers that currently serve the Bolivian market. New foreign carriers are also likely to launch services to Bolivia, with Spain's Air Europa particularly eager to join BoA in filling the void left by Aerosur on the key Madrid route.

Paraguay beckons for bold airport investors

The Government of Paraguay has passed a bill to concession out the Asunción Silvio Pettirossi Airport, along with several of the country's regional airports. If approved by Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo, the 30-year concession will require an estimated USD100 million investment, which seems to be a lot of money for a country that has widely been regarded as something of a backwater in Latin America.

Local unions are vehemently opposed to the concession and about 2,000 unionised airport workers are now planning to wage a 10-day strike at Asunción Airport. The strike is expected to start at end of this week and result in widespread delays and cancellations.

Paraguay is one of only two landlocked countries in South America, surrounded by Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia. It famously fought Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay between 1864 and 1879 in The War of the Triple Alliance, leaving Paraguay with a population of only 200,000 and economic stagnation that lasted half a century. But Paraguay has undergone something of a political resurgence since the 35-year military dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner came to an end in 1989, allowing for regular democratic presidential elections.

Palmair, one time world best airline, and the oldest tour operator in Britain, turns 50

Bournemouth (UK) based Palmair announced that it intends to suspend all services at Bournemouth Airport for the months of Nov-2010, Dec-2010 and Jan-2011, citing poor advance bookings for winter, but hopes to produce a reduced winter timetable from Feb-2011 onwards. Despite this temporary setback Palmair, which claims to be Britain’s oldest tour operator, is one of the industry’s survivors, having been in business as the ‘in-house’ airline of a travel agent and tour operator, Bath Travel, since 1958 – 52 years.

Gol-TAM: Two Strategies gain overwhelming success

A discussion about Brazilian – or even South American aviation – is incomplete without Gol, with its low-fare strategy, and TAM, with a legacy strategy complete with regional airline feeder in Pantanal and membership in Star Alliance. TAM’s measured and targeted growth contrasts, however, with Gol’s dramatic rise. Ironically, Gol was built on the remains of Varig, whose demise paved the way for the successful entrance of TAM.