Qantas appears likely to stop flying into Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires in favor of Brazil’s booming resource economy with flights to either Sao Paulo or Rio de Janiero.
Qantas according to reports in the SMH from ‘sources’ plans to offer direct flights to Brazil in an attempt to capitalise on the booming the South American resource sector, tapping into the lucrative business market with mining companies sharing employees between projects.
Should Qantas fly to Brazil, it is likely to abandon the Argentinian market, with insufficient demand for the airline to fly to both South American countries.
Aerolineas Argentinas is understood to be planning direct flights between Sydney and Buenos Aires, which would be a considerable threat to Qantas on the international route, suggesting Qantas’ move to fly to Brazil is a defensive one rather than an aggressive move into the booming Brazilian economy.
Last week Qantas hit back at domestic rival Virgin Blue with an additional 820,000 Jetstar seats between Australian cities. Qantas appears to be conducting a larger overhaul of its long-haul routes after restructuring its domestic business, pushing aggressively into New Zealand with its Jetstar offering and looking to defend against competition spurred by Virgin Blue’s agreement with Etihad flying into the Middle East.
