Airlines in Argentina warn of possible operational risks because of import restrictions

The Chamber of Airlines in Argentina-JURCA issued a statement on Sunday in which they express their «great concern about the worsening of two situations that affect our operation».

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In the first place, they report inconveniences to import daily use supplies such as tickets, luggage labels, communications and computer equipment, catering elements, aircraft spare parts, materials for ramp operation and equipment for detection of drugs and explosive substances, among others, all of which, explained the executive director of JURCA, Felipe Baravalle, «are stopped without explanation by the non-approval of the System of Imports of the Argentine Republic and Payments of Services Abroad (SIRASE)«.

«We have communicated by different means to the authorities, but without success or opening of any communication channel,» he added, indicating that «these are categorised inputs without foreign exchange transfer and are not onerous», so the barrier it is inexplicable.

Air safety at risk

Secondly, JURCA warns that it is imminent that the airports in which its associated airlines operate will no longer have the lighting detection system, given that SIRASE is delaying the authorization for the local representative to pay the cost of the service to the foreign supplier.

«The lack of this modern service and its advanced technology (which obtains meteorological information through the network of 50 detection stations installed throughout the country), would mean going back in time five years and returning to a more expensive, unsafe, slower and more delayed aerocommercial operation for passengers,» Baravalle said.

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«Since its implementation, airlines as well as ramp, fuel, security and other suppliers have had an alarm system in each airport (in addition to the sound and visual alarms on the tarmac) linked to their mobile phones, which today is considered vital for airport security,» he added.

The National Secretariat of Commerce has been withholding authorization for the payments since November 2022 «without any convenient explanation or understanding of the impact it will have on our industry,» Baravalle continued, concluding that «if this service ceases, we will operate without the security that this technology provides us today».

Lighting Strike Detection System

The lighting strike detection system warns of the presence of lightning strikes both in clouds and on the ground and reports the location of the strikes (with an accuracy of less than 175 m), which allows estimating how they could affect airports and their operations.

Until 2018, only meteorological observation was available for such detection. The new system issues a yellow alert when it detects significant lighting activity within 15 km of the airport and sends messages to e-mails and SMS to mobile phones of pre-selected operational staff with duties within the site. In this case it is considered that the situation could develop into a red alert in the short term.

If lightning activity is detected within a 5 km radius of the airport, the system issues a red alert, also alerting operational staff, and activates sirens and warning strobes in the open operational areas of the airfield. If 10 minutes elapse without another lighting activity, the alerts cease and the system returns to permanent surveillance.

The technology benefits all personnel involved in fuel dispatch, baggage movement, signallers, flight dispatchers, catering loading, aircraft loading and unloading, passenger movement on the ramp, among others.

The system also makes it possible to shorten the time it takes to suspend operations at airports when there is lighting activity, avoiding unnecessary interruptions.

El Palomar, Ezeiza and Aeroparque airports were the first to incorporate this technology in November 2018, followed by others in the interior of Argentina during 2019.

What about repatriation of funds?

For the time being, airlines in Argentina are not experiencing any problems with what is often one of the most serious problems they face in countries with restrictions on access to foreign exchange: the repatriation of funds obtained from ticket sales.

IATA had reported in December that airlines had blocked funds of more than USD 2 billion in different markets such as Nigeria (USD 551 million), Pakistan (USD 225 million), Bangladesh (USD 208 million) and Lebanon (USD 144 million). This is not counting the USD 3.8 billion that the Venezuelan government has been withholding since 2016.

See also: Venezuela: IATA re-energises efforts to repatriate USD 3.8 billion from airlines