Star Alliance base in EZE
 

Good news for us who like to fly *A to EZE (and not based in IAH and EWR). Avianca will open a base in EZE/AEP (and possibly EPA), flying domestic routes but most importantly BA-GRU will start soon, which is great for connecting with UA to/from IAD/ORD avoidng IAH and EWR! I hope the make the schedules work. Link in Spanish: https://www.clarin.com/economia/econ...B1ksLs-eG.html

Please follow this in the Star Alliance forum.

l'etoile
UA moderator

Remind me why LCC service (that is not guaranteed to even be a *A partner) is a better plan than connecting in IAH or EWR?

There's about to be a massive spike in Argentine LCC traffic. That market is going to get nasty.

One could assume that AV will make it a *A partner airline as they have with all of their other subsidiaries, so if that's the case it's great to have more *A options in southern South America since right now it's pretty much only the 5th freedom routes. I agree, I'd rather do my transit in IAH than GRU, but to each their own.

i would assume so too, no indication they would leave a subsidiary covering a part of the world they don't already cover out of the alliance. as an IAD based flyer, i am ok with connecting in IAH/EWR on the way down, but it's a pain on the return. i prefer to make the connection before the long overnight flight and GRU is ideal for that on the way up. i was piecing expensive itineraries with latam and it can get dicey. now it'll be *A all the way thru. avianca brasil is already *A and has great flights from GIG to GRU to connect to UA.

I think you are referring to Avianca Argentina (A0) which is a standalone entity and not part of either AV or O6. At the moment, they have nothing to do with *A.

Joining *A is a lengthy process that requires member airline vote. Maybe that is indeed on the cards but I can't see that happening very quickly.

AV is still evaluating merging with O6 and nothing will become clear until that's settled. Don't forget AV also has interests in Aeromar in Mexico which will see AV complete their pan South America strategy going forward but this will not happen overnight and there are many legal hurdles.

One could, but I think that's a stretch. Especially given the intended LCC approach that the others didn't start with.