As we anticipated, from June 7 Flybondi will ground two Boeing 737 due to the impossibility of making payments to Air Castle, the company that originally provided the operational leasing of those aircraft to the Argentinian low-cost.
Flybondi’s Turbulence: Argentina Currency Exchange Challenges May Ground Fleet
According to various sources, the company informed passengers that it had to cancel 22 flights and reschedule 10, affecting the travel plans of thousands of passengers. The company sent a note to travelers with active reservations on the affected flights, describing the situation.
“Currently, there are official measures that are restrictive for companies that need access to foreign currency to make payments abroad. At Flybondi, we hire several specialized services abroad that are paid in dollars. In order to do so, we must request authorization periodically, but in the past two months, we have not received approvals,” states the statement issued by the operator.
“This has led to accumulating breaches in contracts, and the most critical one is the lease payment for the aircraft.”
The leased aircraft from Air Castle are LV-KDQ and LV-KDR. The first one is a 12-year-old Boeing 737-86N that previously operated for Garuda Indonesia and was incorporated into Flybondi’s fleet in July 2022.
The LV-KDR is also a 12-year-old 737-86N that arrived in June 2022, and it had also previously operated for Garuda Indonesia.
LV-KDQ stopped operating last week when it entered the workshops of Aerolíneas Argentinas to receive an engine change ordered -and paid for- by the lessor.
In addition to the withdrawal of these two aircraft, the absence of LV-KAY and LV-HKN is due to their scheduled major maintenance checks (Check-C), which have also been delayed due to lack of payment. With this grounding, the company’s active fleet will comprise:
- LV-KAH
- LV-KCD
- LV-KCE
- LV-KEF
- LV-KEG
- LV-KEH
- LV-KHO
- LV-KGN
The current situation also prevents the arrival and incorporation of the 13th and 14th aircraft (scheduled for the first week of June), which would have helped mitigate cancellations and rescheduling.
Sources close to the company indicated that they are “concerned” about the operational aspect, as they do not rule out the situation extending over time or the foreign exchange authorization methodology remaining unchanged, although they emphasized the airline’s financial strength.
