News and a commentary by John Gallagher Javier Milei was inaugurated as Argentina’s new president on Sunday, Dec. 10. The Argentine presidential election has been the focus of the Latin America political scene over the last several months. Milei, a right-wing libertarian candidate, won the recent runoff election last month by a surprisingly strong 12-point […]
Argentina
Argentina extends AA2000’s airport concession by 10 years
The Argentine Government has extended the airport management concession contract held by Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 (AA2000) by 10 years, until 2038. The current contract was due to expire in 2028, and the extension follows a recommendation by ORSNA, the Government control-led airports regulator. AA2000 has agreed to invest a minimum of US$2.5bn during the remaining […]
Latin America sees first hints of recovery from COVID-19 shut downs
The COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Latin America at the end of February this year. Initially, cases were few and far between and the speedy introduction of lockdowns and border closings by most governments helped control the spread of the virus. But in the second quarter of the year Brazil swiftly became one of the worst […]
InterBaires/Dufry win Rosario tender
Buenos Aires-based InterBaires, a fully owned subsidiary of Dufry, has won the tender to redesign, operate and manage the duty free stores at Rosario International Airport in Argentina. Rosario Airport, situated just over 300 km north of Buenos Aires, is one of the few airports in Argentina that is not operated by Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 […]
Ezeiza’s “friendly” new terminal to open at the end of September
Aeropuertos Argentinos 2000 (AA2000) will inaugurate its new unified passenger departures terminal at Buenos Aires Ezeiza Airport just as the 2019 Cannes event gets underway. The 45,000 sqm terminal at the country’s main international gateway will change the face of commercial aviation in Argentina, and paves the way for Ezeiza to become the most technologically […]
Iguazu airport begins first intercontinental flights
Argentine President Mauricio Macri on Friday, August 23, “christened” the first intercontinental flight from Puerto Iguazu International Airport, as Air Europa officially inaugurated flights from Iguazu to Madrid, Spain. This is a milestone event for the airport, which in 2018 surpassed a million passengers in one year for the first time. The airport is operated […]
ShopGallery rolls out Gate7/24 Travel Market concept to Iguazu airport
Argentine duty-paid travel retailer ShopGallery this week opened a new Gate 7/24 Travel Market convenience store in Iguazu International Airport in the north of Argentina. The 70sqm store is located adjacent to the check-in area at the growing airport which is currently in the midst of a major renovation project. This is ShopGallery’s third Gate […]
Argentina’s economy lifting out of recession? Activity rises in May for the first time in a year
Argentina’s economic activity rose for the first time in over a year in May, reported Mercopress this week. The 2.6% rise versus the same month a year ago topped even the most optimistic estimates from analysts, and broke a run of 12 consecutive months of falling economic activity, said the media site last Friday. The […]
Latin America’s big economies falter: Brazil, Mexico and Argentina all contracting in first quarter
The International Monetary Fund cut its outlook for global growth to the lowest rate since the financial crisis in its latest outlook issued in April. The world economy will grow 3.3 % this year, down from the 3.5 % the IMF had forecast for 2019 in January, according to the latest World Economic Outlook. World trade, which had been growing at about 5%, expanded by 3.8% last year and is forecast to rise 3.4% in 2019. Latin America is particularly hard hit, […]
ForwardKeys: Argentina’s economic woes entice tourists
International travelers are flocking to Argentina, taking advantage of the poorly performing peso to boost the value of their holiday spending money, reports travel booking analyst company ForwardKeys. Bookings for March to May are ahead 11.2% compared to last year, says the research firm. For South America as a whole, bookings are ahead 5.8%. In […]
Total passenger traffic rises 6.9% in Argentina, but growth slows from 2017
Passenger traffic at Argentina’s airports reached 29.2m in 2018, up 6.9% over the previous year, reports EANA (Empresa Argentina de Navegación Aérea). Although the growth is in line with average growth over the last ten years, it shows a significant slowdown from the 15% increase in 2017. Domestic traffic grew by 12.4% to 14.2m passengers, […]
Currency crisis in Brazil and Argentina
Buenos Aires-based John Gallagher looks at the economic situation in Latin America and studies how recent currency fluctuations are affecting the duty free business. Currency devaluations in Brazil and Argentina in May and June have led to severe currency fluctuations in both countries, with an overspill that impacts all facets of their economies including […]
AA2000’s 15 billion Arg. Peso renovation underway at Ezeiza
Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 (AA2000) has held the concession to manage the principal airports in Argentina since 1998. Controlled by the powerful Buenos Aires based conglomerate Corporacion America, which is owned by Argentine entrepreneur Eduardo Eurnekian, AA2000 is part of a group that manages airports in Italy, Brazil, Ecuador, Italy and Armenia. In Argentina, AA2000 controls […]
Is Latin America’s economic crisis over?
John Gallagher reports from Buenos Aires. As we head into the last quarter of 2017, travel retail suppliers and operators in Latin America are asking if the tentative economic recovery of the first half year is here to stay. Brazil The fall in raw material prices in early 2014 and Brazil’s massive Lavajato corruption scandal brought about […]
London Supply celebrates 75th birthday and looks forward to growth
by John Gallagher Argentina-based independent travel retailer London Supply is celebrating its 75th birthday this year. The company started out as a classical ships supplier working out of Buenos Aires port provisioning foreign vessels with Argentina manufactured products free of taxes and duties. London Supply still offers ship supply today but now services 19 ports […]
