Uruguay hasn’t had any sort of a major passenger airline in over a decade, since PLUNA went out of business in 2012. There’s an interesting update, as plans have just been announced for a new national carrier to be launched, with a twist. I first wrote about this a few days ago when it was rumored, but the official announcement has now been made.
In this post:
Uruguay’s new airline will fly wet leased airBaltic jets
Uruguay is expected to get a new passenger airline, in the form of SUA Líneas Aéreas (with “SUA” standing for “Sociedad Uruguaya de Aviación”).
The airline will be based at Carrasco International Airport (MVD) in Montevideo, Uruguay, and will launch operations with a fleet of leased Airbus A220-300s. Specifically, the airline has signed an agreement with Latvia’s airBaltic, which is no stranger to wet leasing operations. As of October 2025, SUA will fly up to five airBaltic A220s.
That means that while SUA will market the flights, they’ll actually be operated by airBaltic aircraft and crews. airBaltic has quite the history of wet leasing, though up until now, these agreements have primarily been with airlines in Europe. SUA will be the first airline based in Latin America to operate the A220. This’ll be an interesting adventure for airBaltic crews, since they’ll be flying a long way from home.
The plan is to operate flights within Uruguay, and also to Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. airBaltic will also be providing support for SUA in areas like operational set-up, pilot training, know-how sharing, IT and automation, and more.
Uruguay’s government is backing this project, and is excited at the prospect of the economic growth this will provide, and the jobs it will create (presumably mostly in the form of ground staff, since crews will work for airBaltic). However, the funding for this project is largely coming from Saudi Arabia.
SUA is founded by Antonio Rama. According to his LinkedIn, Rama is a Qatar Airways Boeing 777 captain. He’s also the guy behind Uair, an airline in Uruguay that operated from 2003 until 2005, but then went out of business. Here’s how he describes this development:
“Through this alliance, we will benefit from airBaltic’s expertise in key areas such as fleet management, operational efficiency, and staff training, equipping us with the tools needed to develop a customer-focused operation. We are confident that their experience and support will be critical in this early phase of our development.”
Meanwhile here’s how Martin Gauss, airBaltic’s CEO, describes this:
“Collaborating with SUA Líneas Aéreas represents a unique opportunity to bring airBaltic’s expertise in operating the Airbus A220-300 to a new region. This partnership reflects our commitment to fostering innovation and improving air connectivity globally. We are looking forward to supporting SUA in their journey to strengthen regional connectivity and deliver exceptional service in Latin America.”
My take on Uruguay’s unusual airline startup
Even with some details about the airline being formally unveiled, there are still a lot more questions than answers. For example, I’m curious when the airline will transition from operating wet leased jets, to operating its own jets, and also how long the agreement with airBaltic is for.
airBaltic has done a brilliant job balancing operating its own flights with leasing out many of its jets to other airlines, given the struggles it has faced (like the closure of Russian airspace). Leasing out planes is a good business model, since it at least guarantees you won’t lose money on operating those jets, and minimizes risks.
All that being said, there’s no denying that aviation in Latin America is tricky. The industry is extremely competitive and passengers are largely cost conscious. Currently, Montevideo has service from most of the major carriers in the region to their respective hubs, in addition to year-round flights to Madrid (MAD) on Air Europa and Iberia, and seasonal flights to Miami (MIA) on American.
Currently, there are lots of nonstop flights to Argentina and Chile, like to Buenos Aires (AEP), Santiago (SCL), Sao Paulo (GRU), and more. Will SUA operate in more niche markets, or is the airline hoping to undercut competitors on price?
Bottom line
A new airline named SUA is launching in Uruguay, and it’ll initially fly wet leased airBaltic Airbus A220s. The plan is to launch operations in the fourth quarter of 2025, with up to five Airbus A220-300s. This is certainly an unusual way to launch an airline, though at least initially, this’ll be a nice way for airBaltic to keep its aircraft occupied in the (northern) winter.
What do you make of Uruguay’s new airline?
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