Category Archives: JetSmart

JetSMART announces new routes to Rio de Janeiro

JetSMART has announced the opening of a new route to Brazil: Rio de Janeiro (GIG) from Santiago de Chile (SCL) and Buenos Aires (EZE).
The Chilean airline is also reopening the flights from SCL to Foz de Iguaçú that were halted in 2020 because of COVID-19 pandemic.
The flights between SCL and GIG will be launched on December 29, 2022 and are to be operated on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, while the operation to Río from EZE will commence on December 6, 2022 on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Alvaro Romero reporting from Chile.
JetSmart aircraft photo gallery:

JetSmart takes delivery of its first Airbus A321neo

Airbus made this announcement:

JetSMART, the South American ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) operating in Chile, Argentina and Peru, took  delivery of its first Airbus A321neo, leased from Aviation Capítal Group. The fuel-efficient single-aisle aircraft will be key in reducing the airline’s environmental footprint.

JetSMART’s A321neo is powered by Pratt & Whitney GTF™ engines and can seat up to 240 passengers in Airbus’ award-winning Airspace cabin, which brings unique lighting displays, more personal space and a sleek design to improve passenger experience.

Photo: Airbus.

JetSmart (Chile) aircraft photo gallery:

JetSmart Airlines to lease six Airbus A320neo aircraft from BOC Aviation

BOC Aviation Limited has announced the placement of six Airbus A320NEO aircraft with South American ultra low-cost carrier JetSMART Airlines SpA.

 

All six aircraft are powered by Pratt & Whitney’s PurePower® PW1100G-JM engines and are scheduled for delivery in 2024.

About JetSMART Airlines

Founded in 2016, JetSMART Airlines is an ultra low-cost airline with domestic operations in Chile, Argentina and Peru and offering international services to Colombia, Uruguay and Brazil, having carried more than 10 million passengers. JetSMART is part of the airline portfolio of US private equity firm Indigo Partners, which includes Frontier Airlines in the USA, Wizz Air in Europe, Volaris in Mexico, Lynx Air in Canada and Cebu Pacific in Asia.

JetSmart aircvraft photo gallery:

Indigo Partners portfolio airlines order 255 A321neo Family aircraft including 91 for Frontier

Wizz Air (Hungary), Frontier (United States), Volaris (Mexico) and JetSMART (Chile, Argentina), Indigo Partners portfolio airlines, have announced an order for 255 additional A321neo Family aircraft under a joint Indigo Partners agreement. The firm order was signed at the Dubai Airshow.

This order brings the total number of aircraft ordered by the Indigo Partners’ airlines to 1,145 A320 Family aircraft. The aircraft ordered today are a mix of A321neos and A321XLRs, which will be delivered to the individual airlines as follows:

  • Wizz Air: 102 aircraft (75 A321neo + 27 A321XLR)
  • Frontier: 91 aircraft (A321neo)
  • Volaris: 39 aircraft (A321neo)
  • JetSMART: 23 aircraft (21 A321neo + 2 A321XLR)

In addition to this order, Volaris and JetSMART will upconvert 38 A320neo to A321neo from their existing aircraft backlogs.

Indigo Partners LLC, based in Phoenix, Arizona, is a private equity fund focused on worldwide investments in air transportation.

American Airlines partners with JetSMART in Argentina and Chile

American Airlines today made this announcement:

  • American proposes acquiring a minority ownership stake in JetSMART allowing the carrier to rapidly grow its low-cost network in South America.
  • Customers would be able to earn and redeem AAdvantage miles on JetSMART flights.
  • Broad connectivity and robust loyalty program would create a compelling customer offering in Latin America.
  • Proposed codeshare agreement between the two airlines would create more options for customers traveling between the United States and South America.

American Airlines and JetSMART have signed a letter of intent to create the broadest network and most rewarding customer offering in the Americas. This proposed partnership would uniquely tie together the full-service, global presence of American with the complementary network of ultra-low-cost carrier JetSMART in South America to offer competitive fares and expanded travel options for flyers throughout North and South America.

Copyright Photo: Eurospot.

Operating from Chile and Argentina, JetSMART is a portfolio airline of Indigo Partners, one of the world’s premier developers of new generation ultra-low-cost airlines. JetSMART operates a modern fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft and offers short-haul domestic and international service to 33 destinations throughout South America. American has served Latin America since 1942 and offers service to 17 destinations in South America from its U.S. hubs in Dallas-Fort Worth, Miami and New York. Through the two airlines’ codeshare, customers would be able to travel seamlessly throughout the Americas.

Under the proposed transaction, American would invest in JetSMART to facilitate this growth and give American a minority ownership stake in the short-haul South American carrier.

Additionally, American and Indigo Partners would jointly commit to provide additional capital to fund potential future opportunities in the region. American can strengthen and grow its South American network through this proposed partnership to attract more travelers in more markets. This proposed partnership, along with others in Latin America, would also give American customers access to more low fares and travel options on a network that is twice as big as other alliances.

The intended investments and codeshare agreements are subject to definitive documentation and any required governmental and regulatory approvals.

American Airlines and JetSmart service to and within South America

Norwegian sells Argentinian subsidiary to JetSmart

Norwegian Air Shuttle has signed an agreement for the sale of 100 percent of its Argentinian subsidiary Norwegian Air Argentina (NAA) to JetSMART Airlines.

“We’re taking necessary steps to return to profitability,” said acting CEO Geir Karlsen.

JetSMART will assume the NAA operation with immediate effect. To minimize the impact on passengers, JetSMART will continue to operate the NAA scheduled flights from Aeroparque airport. The parties expect that the integration process will take several months, and the Norwegian brand will be phased out in the domestic Argentinian network during this period.

Over the next six months, the three Boeing 737 currently operated by NAA will be replaced by JetSMART’s Airbus A320 aircraft. The three Boeing 737s will return to service for Norwegian in Europe.

“As Norwegian moves from growth to profitability, we are taking all the necessary actions required to ensure that Norwegian is well positioned going forward. Over the past few months we have made important changes to our route network to ensure long-term profitability. Attaining satisfactory profitability for a relatively small domestic operation has proved difficult to achieve, given the overall situation in the country. While most of NAA’s costs are denominated in dollars, revenue is obtained in pesos only, and the sharp depreciation of the peso against the dollar has created a significant gap between costs and revenue,” said acting CEO and CFO of Norwegian, Geir Karlsen.

Scheduled flights to be operated as plannedAll passengers who have purchased NAA flights will fly as planned.

NAA solely operates domestic flights within Argentina so the new agreement will not affect Norwegian’s long-haul flights between London and Buenos Aires. These are operated by the British subsidiary Norwegian Air UK.

Norwegian’s employees in NAA will, as per the agreement, be employed by JetSMART except for the company’s Argentina-based call center staff. They will continue as Norwegian employees providing customer services to JetSMART’s domestic Argentina operation and to our customers on our long-haul operation between Europe and South America.

“All our colleagues in Argentina deserve a word of recognition for their dedication and hard work. The past two years have proven eventful – not only have they built a fully-fledged airline from scratch, but they have also operated it to the highest professional standards. In doing so, they have earned for Norwegian the gratitude and respect of the Argentinian people,” said CEO of Norwegian Air Argentina, Ole Christian Melhus.

NAA received its Air Operator’s Certificate in January 2018 and started operations on 16th October that year.

The company currently operates a fleet of three Boeing 737-800s, with twenty daily flights across eight routes between Buenos Aires’ Aeroparque airport to Bariloche, Córdoba, Iguazú, Jujuy, Mendoza, Neuquén, Salta, and Ushuaia.

So far, NAA has carried 982,000 passengers.

JetSmart launches new routes to Colombia

First A320neo, delivered on October 5, 2019

JetSmart announced the launch of twice-weekly nonstop routes from Santiago, Chile, to Colombia. The direct flights will link SCL airport with the cities of Cali from December 20, 2019, and capital city of Bogotá from January 9, 2020, transforming Colombia into the fourth country where the ULCC airline will fly from Chile (joining Argentina, Perú and Brazil).

Alvaro Romero reporting from Chile.

Top Copyright Photo: JetSmart (Chile) Airbus A320-271N WL CC-AWJ (msn 9194) (Colibri de Arica) TLS (Eurospot). Image: 947834.

JetSmart aircraft slide show:

JetSmart shows off its first Airbus A320neo in Santiago

JetSMART presented its first Airbus A320-271N (A320neo), in a ceremony held at Aerocardal FBO of Santiago de Chile’s Arturo Merino Benítez airport (SCL) with big presence of media and local fashion representatives.

This ceremony took place on October 9, 2019. The event mainly consisted of a fashion event with models of EML Elite Model Look Chile. In fact, EML chose to make is 2019 awards, transforming both Aerocardal apron and CC-AWJ itself into a fashion show.
The A320neo performed the inaugural flight from Santiago (SCL), flying over Chile’s central region coast, specifically the touristic cities of Valparaíso and Viña del Mar; while the Airbus performed several turns over the Pacific Ocean (at an average altitude of 10,000 ft), its aisle was transformed into an in flight fashion show by EML models.
CC-AWJ (msn 9194), is owned by SMBC Aviation Capital Limited and operated by JetSMART SPA.
CC-AWJ is decorated with a hummingbird (Colibrí de Arica), and after a Facebook contest was named Zunzún.
It is also the first of six Airbus A320neo to be received by JetSMART until the first semester of 2020, and bringing the ULCC carrier fleet from 11 to 17 aircraft.
Alvaro Romero reporting from Santiago.
All photos by Alvaro Romero.

JetSmart to expand into Brazil

JetSmart has announced its new routes, adding Brazil to its network. The three places that are to be added are the following (all flights from Santiago de Chile, SCL):

Salvador de Bahía, three times a week in summer (Southern Hemisphere) from December 27, 2019; the rest of the year it will operate twice a week.
Foz de Iguazú, two flights a week from January 5, 2020 (first time a Chilean airline provides a direct link there).
Sao Paulo, initially two times a week from March 20, 2020.
JetSmart projects the route to Salvador de Bahía will transport more than 33,000 passengers a year, while to Foz de Iguazú and Sao Paulo, more than 30,000 pax per year respectively.
Alvaro Romero reporting from Chile.

Indigo Partners to add 50 Airbus A321XLRs to its airline fleets

Indigo Partners and three of its airlines will acquire 50 of the new Airbus A321XLR long-range, single-aisle jetliners. The Memorandum of Understanding includes new orders for 32 A321XLRs and the conversion of 18 existing A320neo family orders.

Indigo Partners LLC, based in Phoenix, Arizona, is a private equity fund focused on worldwide investments in air transportation. Indigo has major ownership stakes in four low-cost airlines, including Frontier Airlines (U.S.), JetSMART (Chile), Volaris (Mexico) and Wizz Air (Hungary). The four carriers now operate a combined 295 Airbus planes and, with the new commitments, have 636 on order.

Twenty of the A321XLRs will be allocated to Wizz Air, 18 to Frontier, and 12 to JetSMART.

Airbus announced the launch of the A321XLR at the Paris Air Show. Derived from the A321neo, the A321XLR is the longest-range single-aisle commercial jetliner ever, capable of flying routes up to 4,700nm with unbeatable fuel efficiency. With a range previously found only in twin-aisle aircraft, A321XLR will enable airlines to exploit new route opportunities with low operating costs, reduced environmental impact, and provide passengers with a comfortable travel experience.

Images: Airbus.