Aerolíneas Argentinas Cargo flies 18 tonnes of salmon from Trelew
Almirante Marcos A. Zar Airport processed its first export cargo flight on October 7, carrying 18 tonnes of Pacific salmon to Ezeiza aboard a Boeing 737 freighter bound for the United States.
On Wednesday, October 7, Almirante Marcos A. Zar Airport (REL/SAVT) in Trelew handled its inaugural outbound air export. An Aerolíneas Argentinas Cargo Boeing 737 departed with 18 tonnes of Chilean Pacific salmon destined for the United States via Ezeiza (EZE) and Miami.
Discrepancies remain regarding the cargo's condition: local outlets report fresh salmon, whereas the Chubut provincial government describes frozen fish originated in Punta Arenas. Consolidated under the Aqua label and cleared by SENASA and Customs, the shipment had reached REL by road through Río Gallegos.
The operation reverses an empty backhaul pattern. Since September 2025, a dedicated freighter had linked Ezeiza, Neuquén, and Trelew for Mercado Libre and Mirgor, scaling up in May 2026 to five weekly frequencies moving 15,000 to 16,000 packages daily into Patagonia before returning empty.
REL features a 2,560-meter runway and an expanded apron capable of accommodating up to six large aircraft simultaneously. Local authorities are targeting three weekly export flights, alongside permanent Customs and SENASA stations to support regular dispatches of regional products such as cherries, wool, and meat.
Why it matters for your training
This operation illustrates backhaul capacity monetization on regional freighter routes, altering payload and turnaround planning at non-hub Patagonian airfields.
Sources
Article rewritten with the help of AI from the cited sources.