Argentina´s Air Transport Gains Soared 34 Percent in 2004

Argentina´s airlines made a killing last year with $729.2 million worth of profits, up 34 percent from 2003, according to figures published by the local press this week.

In addition to that, the Chamber of Argentine Airlines indicated that all carriers sold 1.5 million plane tickets combined in 2004, up 17.3 percent from the previous year.

Regardless of the good news, local newspaper La Nacion noted last year´s figures are a far cry from the best numbers the Argentine aviation industry has ever put on the board. That was back in 1998 when the sale of plane tickets topped 990 million.

Even though the aviation sector in Argentina is staging a comeback after hitting bedrock bottom in late 2001, the market is still in the red by as much as 26 percent.