Tras 21 meses, finalmente Gol Linhas Aéreas vuelve a operar en Argentina conectando con Florianópolis (FLN), San Pablo /GRU) y Río de Janeiro (GIG).
Flight G3 7692 landed at 07:38 am at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, arriving from Florianópolis (FLN), in a Boeing 737-800 with registration PR-GTB. At 12:45 pm it will be joined by the first flight from Rio de Janeiro (GIG) and at 1:00 pm by the first flight out of Sao Paulo (GRU).
GOL was, prior to the pandemic, one of the main flight operators between Brazil and Argentina, a major regional market in Latin America. The company had a strong presence between the two countries, flying from Brasilia (BSB), Florianópolis (FLN), Fortaleza (FOR), Joao Pessoa (JPZ), Maceió (MCZ), Natal (NAT), Recife (REC), Rio de Janeiro (GIG), Salvador de Bahía (SSA), São Paulo (GRU) to Buenos Aires/Ezeiza (EZE). It also operated between Cordoba (COR) – Rio de Janeiro (GIG); Rosario (ROS) – Rio de Janeiro (GIG); Mendoza (MDZ) – Sao Paulo (GRU) and, in season, to Bariloche (BRC) from Sao Paulo (GRU).
Based on data obtained by Aviacionline through Cirium, the Brazilian airline made up 27% of the operations between both countries by having 750 average flights per month in 2019. ANAC Argentina reported that it used to mobilize more than 1,086,000 passengers per year with an average load factor of 79%, being the third most important airline in Argentina, accounting for 8% of the international market share.
Still, the return of GOL was surrounded by several conflicts. During the official announcement of its resumption, the Argentinean staff of the company received a layoff notice. Most of this personnel worked in customer service, and they were replaced by an outsourced company and the call center service ceased to operate.
As a result of this situation, several customers had great difficulties to be rescheduled once the company’s return was known. In addition to the fact that GOL only returns with 140 flights per month, representing a reduction of 81% compared to 2019, hence the margin for passengers to reschedule is not much.
GOL holds a partnership with Aerolineas Argentinas, thus benefiting travelers from Cordoba, Rosario, Mendoza, and Bariloche for endorsement of tickets through the Argentine company via Aeroparque. On the other hand, passengers who purchased through travel agencies found it more difficult to get a favorable resolution.
GOL Schedules and Frequencies until March 2022
Following the reopening of the borders, Argentina was once again served by British Airways, Air Canada, Cubana de Aviación, while Conviasa and SKY Airline Peru joined in the recovery of international services.
This is the fourth international destination that GOL has resumed service to after having reopened Montevideo (MVD) in Uruguay; Punta Cana (PUJ) in the Dominican Republic and Cancun (CUN) in Mexico. They will be followed by Miami (MIA) and Orlando (MCO) in the United States as of May 2022.
