dailynewsnblog
Argentine low-cost carrier Flybondi is functionally weird. It lives in a paradoxical world that only makes sense if you understand not just Argentina’s aviation landscape, but also the nation’s way of life and its dynamic cultural heritage. Argentina’s low-cost aviation industry is in its infancy, especially compared to major markets like the United States or the European Union. Low-cost carriers in the nation only began to emerge in the last decade, and they have done so with very different operational objectives. Jetsmart exists as a carrier that resembles more of what we would think of as a budget airline, with convenient, cheap flights and low-frills tickets.
That’s not what Flybondi is. Flybondi is not Spirit Airlines, nor is it Ryanair, nor is it like any kind of carrier we could easily provide an analog to in the United States. There are a few airlines in the world for which booking a ticket through their website does not mean you have a seat on the flight you bought it for. Furthermore, a few airlines sell seats on flights that they may or may not actually operate. There are very few carriers where standby allocations are determined via a WhatsApp group chat between gate staff and flight attendants. At the same time, Flybondi’s tickets have become so cheap that it has genuinely unlocked the ability to travel for an entirely new demographic of the nation. Flybondi is not for everyone. If you are an American or other foreigner visiting Argentina and looking for cheap domestic flights, here is everything you need to know about Flybondi.
A Brief Overview Of The Airline And Its History
Flybondi is Argentina’s first ultra-low-cost carrier, an airline built around a low base fare with added extras. The airline also describes itself as using a tight aircraft utilization business model. The carrier operates mainly Boeing 737-800 jets in high-density, all-economy layouts, aiming for quick turnarounds and high aircraft hours (this is less how it works in practice). This model relies on direct online sales and ancillary revenue generation, with core operating nodes at Jorge Newbery Airfield (AEP) and Córdoba Airport (COR). The airline primarily operates point-to-point domestic leisure-oriented routes.
The airline launched in 2016, and it flew its first scheduled flight on January 26, 2018, with a nonstop service from Córdoba to Iguazu. It marketed the “freedom to fly,” painting Buenos Aires billboards (especially in middle-class and working-class neighborhoods) with signs that directly displayed this marketing. The airline initially expanded internationally with flights to neighboring Paraguay before adding flights to nearby destinations in Brazil. The following table offers some details on the carrier’s fleet, according to data made available to Simple Flying by ch-aviation:
|
Aircraft Type |
Number In Flybondi Fleet |
|---|---|
|
Airbus A220-300 |
15 (on order) |
|
Boeing 737-800 |
15 |
|
Boeing 737 MAX 10 |
10 (on order) |
Pandemic-era disruptions pushed the airline to expand its operations at Buenos Aires’ two principal service airports in 2020 and 2021. In a market dominated by Aerolíneas Argentinas and the foreign-catering Jetsmart, the carrier has faced heavy criticism for reliability and cancellations. The airline’s market share has only continued to decline as a result, falling beneath 20%. Operational headaches are a big factor behind this. All of this creates a very unique airline in a one-of-a-kind operating environment.
What Is Flybondi’s Reputation?
Fascinated by Flybondi’s story, Simple Flying decided to perform some on-the-ground research in Buenos Aires. We chose to try Flybondi out for a three-day journey from Jorge Newberry Airfield (AEP) to Mendoza Airport (MDZ) during the height of Argentina’s leisure travel season, a period during which Flybondi really makes its money. Our return flights (like most of Flybondi’s evening services) were scheduled to arrive back at Ezeiza International Airport (EZE), the largest of Buenos Aires’ multiple airports. We will analyze our experience flying the airline later, but before we ever even showed up to the airport, we extensively discussed the carrier and its reputation with Argentines of all ages.
The first thing that people always told us about Flybondi, which was described as “la aerolinea promocional” or “the discount airline,” is that its tickets were incredibly cheap. For our three-day trip to Mendoza, our flights were around 30% cheaper than those of Jetsmart and around half the price of flag carrier 
Aerolíneas Argentinas. That is essentially where the positive commentary on the carrier ended.
The second thing we noticed through our many interviews was that, when we mentioned Flybondi, people tended to laugh before cracking a funny joke about the airline. There were genuinely some funny ones, many of which we can not publish, but most were directly related to the fact that reliability was a key concern. Some noted that Flybondi flights “leave when they want” and that they “happen, or they don’t.” When we mentioned our return flight was to EZE, someone told us that “asi te dejan en la autopista,” or “they will probably just leave you on the highway,” a statement that turned out to be hilarious in retrospect. Either way, the message was clear: Flybondi flights are cheap, but make sure you have zero expectations of an on-time arrival.
5 Main Differences Between Legacy & Low-Cost European Carriers
Low-cost airlines have a significantly different business model.
Flight One: AEP-MDZ
We began our journey with Flybondi on a busy Monday morning in the middle of January, the peak summer travel period in Argentina. After attempting to check in online (which failed as some members of our group had US passports), we headed to Aeroparque a few hours prior to our flight’s departure. We approached a bizarrely empty queue at Flybondi’s check-in desk, before one agent informed us that our flight had been delayed around six hours.
There had been no communication via email to us on this matter. However, we decided to enjoy an additional afternoon in Buenos Aires as a result. We then returned to the airport a few hours later, all for someone at the check-in desk to inform us that, despite purchasing tickets, there were no seats available for us on the flight and that we would need to be placed on standby. We were confused by this information, as the check-in agent told us to wait before disappearing for around thirty minutes, before giving us boarding passes with no seat numbers attached.
He told us to go through security, and then, if there were no-shows at the gate, we would be able to board. We asked what would happen if there was no space for us (again, on a flight where we had bought tickets), and his response was simply, “I guess we will see then.” This somewhat nonchalant attitude is extremely characteristic of the airline. No one is in a rush, nothing is that urgent, and there is no need to worry about things like actually getting on a specific flight, all of which will come as a surprise to the unknowing foreigner. Either way, we eventually got to our aircraft, and we were allowed to board after an extensive exchange in a WhatsApp group chat where flight attendants tried to figure out what seats were available. Eventually, we were printed boarding passes and allowed to board the flight, albeit with some seat numbers that did not actually exist (but we all eventually found a place to sit simply by looking around).
Flight Two: MDZ-EZE (Well, Kinda)
For context, we had booked an evening departure from Mendoza back to Buenos Aires. Our flight was originally scheduled to leave around 8:00 PM, but the night before, we received an email informing us that the flight had been “reprogrammed” for 5:00 PM, a change that was not really that big of a deal to us. However, we arrived at the airport around 3:00 PM, walked up to the desk to check in, and a gate agent came over to us and simply said, “There is no flight today, would you like to leave tomorrow?” The “reprogrammed flight” did not appear to exist in any capacity (nor could we find any record of the service on flight-tracking sites like FlightRadar24).
We were really in a tricky situation, as we had to be back in Buenos Aires the next evening to catch a flight back to the United States. Unfortunately, as this was the peak of Argentina’s domestic travel season, there were no available seats on other carriers for that afternoon either, effectively stranding us in Mendoza.
There was the option to rent a vehicle and drive the twelve hours back to Buenos Aires. In the end, this is what we decided to do. You would think that in this situation, Flybondi would provide us with a refund for our flight. However, despite multiple attempts to contact the airline, we have yet to receive our money back in any form.
Here’s Why The US-Argentina Market For LATAM Airlines Has Potential
The airline is planning a market entry this December.
What Do We Make Of Our Experience With Flybondi?
Sure, it is pretty easy to note that Flybondi is unreliable. We could spend hours talking about the carrier’s complex reputation. However, the more interesting thing to analyze is that no one seemed to care. During our initial six-hour delay, nobody seemed to remotely care or complain. Nobody was surprised by this situation. We were among the very few foreigners on our outbound flight, and most on the service simply sat down, poured a yerba mate, and chatted as if the delay was no surprise.
When our flight back was canceled, most actually seemed relatively excited. Flybondi was paying for a night in a hotel in Mendoza, and a few people we spoke with commented on their excitement that their vacation had essentially been extended. All of this speaks to a greater cultural attitude surrounding the airline. No one is really in a rush to get anywhere, especially in January, and these delays are essentially just part of the journey.
The most interesting thing to note is that during the arrival announcements on our first flight, the lead cabin attendant asked passengers who had never flown before to raise their hands. To my surprise, pretty much half of the plane did, highlighting a pretty impressive (albeit likely nonrepresentative) ratio of passengers who had flown for the first time. Not once did anyone complain about the delay, the service quality, the disorganized boarding process or lack of communication, and we spoke to dozens of passengers on that flight.
So, What Exactly Is Flybondi’s Purpose?
This all leads us to the bigger question of what purpose Flybondi is designed to serve. The airline’s service, from the objective point of the passenger, is, in terms of quality, far beneath even what is offered by a Ryanair or a Spirit Airlines. Those flights are often delayed, but they do get you there. If Spirit or Ryanair cancels your flight, they will, at very least, give you a somewhat plausible reason for doing so.
Flybondi is different. If you want to criticize the airline, it is very easy to do. It is functionally unreliable, difficult to count on to get you where you need to go, and does not even seem to want to give you your money back, even when you attempt to do so. The thing about Flybondi is that passengers are well aware of all of the above, and they do not seem to care.
Flybondi aims to open up flying to more and more Argentines. It’s not a low-cost airline designed to undercut Aerolineas to serve tourists. It is designed to offer the “freedom to fly” to millions of citizens who otherwise would not be able to afford a vacation that required air travel. Flybondi could save you money, but as a foreigner, do know what you are getting yourself into.
