Andes Líneas Aéreas

Is Andes Líneas Aéreas safe?

Andes has never had a fatal accident or lost an aircraft in 20 years of flying, which is the most important fact for anyone booked on one of its charters. It also has the thinnest safety case of Argentina's active jet airlines: a handful of leased Boeing 737s around 16 years old, no IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit, a 2018 maintenance error found by investigators, and a company that spent most of 2020–2026 either grounded or in creditor protection. We score it 75, below Aerolíneas Argentinas (82) and JetSMART Argentina (83) but above Flybondi (71).

What kind of airline is Andes now?

A charter airline. Andes was founded in Salta in 2005 and flew its first service on 20 June 2006. It grew into a scheduled domestic airline with about 1.2 million passengers between 2016 and 2018, then shrank after Argentina's 2018 currency crisis. It stopped flying in March 2020 and did not return until 2023, this time without scheduled routes.

Today it flies student graduation trips (the Bariloche winter season is its peak), football teams, corporate groups and tour-operator packages. In July 2026, at the height of the student season, it carried 1.9% of Argentina's domestic passengers, more than Flybondi for the first time in eight years. It has also flown for other airlines: in 2024 and early 2026 it operated some Flybondi flights with its own aircraft and crews.

Two points matter for passengers. First, you usually buy an Andes seat as part of a package, so ask the travel company which airline will fly you. Second, in July 2026 Andes subcontracted at least one Bariloche charter to Avion Express Brasil, a sister company of Avion Express, which flew it with its own A320 and crew. On such a flight the operating airline's record applies, not Andes's.

Has Andes had any accidents?

No fatal accident and no hull lossHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary. The one accident in the database is minor: on 11 February 2013 an MD-83 taxiing to its stand at Salta hit the top of a fuel truck with its left wing tip. Argentina's investigators (then the JIAAC) found the aircraft was taxiing faster than walking pace onto the apron and had left the guide line, no wing walker was used, and the airport operator had not followed the ramp procedures. Nobody was hurt and the aircraft was repaired.

What did investigators find?

The most useful evidence comes from two engine shutdowns in 2018. On 27 January and again on 7 March, the same MD-83 (LV-BEG) lost oil pressure on its right engine and the crew shut it down; the second time, with 162 people on board, it diverted to Tucumán. The JIAAC's final report, published in December 2019, traced both to a cracked oil pressure tube. Three months earlier an engineer had over-tightened the nut joining the tube to a switch, because the task card did not warn about the torque value. The report said the manufacturer's documents, as adapted by Andes and approved by ANAC, could lead to this kind of error.

Other events since 2016:

• Iguazú, 15 June 2018. The tower told a 737-800 to go around because it would touch down too far along the runway. The crew landed on the second approach. The JIAAC classed it as a serious incident.
• Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, 21 February 2024. A 737-800 flying Flybondi's FO5106 with 189 people on board declared an emergency for unreliable airspeed after take-off and returned. It was the aircraft's first departure since 7 January. The JST called it an incident with a failure of onboard systems and opened an investigation.

We found no event after 2024. The MD-83s are gone, which removes the oldest type from the story.

How old is the fleet?

Middle-aged and small. The April 2026 Argentine fleet census by AviacionNews listed two Boeing 737-800s built in 2005 and 2011 and two 737-700s built in 2011, all leased, with an average age of 16.54 years. In July 2026 Aviacionline listed three aircraft in service. The 737 NG is a proven type, but a fleet of three or four leaves little spare capacity when one needs heavy maintenance, which is when schedules and crews come under pressure.

Money is the wider worry. Andes entered creditor protection in September 2023 and left it only in May 2026, and in July 2026 the pilots' union warned of action over broken agreements before the company said the dispute was settled.

How we scored it

Twenty years without a fatal accident or hull lossHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary gives an accident score of 87. Argentine oversight without a confirmed IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit scores 70, as for Flybondi. The fleet scores 62 for its age and size, and serious incidents 64 for the 2018 maintenance error, the Iguazú long landing and the 2024 airspeed failure. Mountain and winter flying to Bariloche puts the environment at 70. Overall 75. Confidence is low: Andes flies few flights, and the JST had not published a report on the 2024 event.

Booking a charter with Andes

• Ask who operates the flight. The package may name Andes but use a subcontracted airline; you can then check that airline's record.
• Get the flight number before you travel. A charter can change times at short notice, and the flight number lets you follow delays and diversions.
• Plan for winter delays at Bariloche. Snow and wind can shut the airport in July; build a spare day into a school trip's return.