June 24 (UPI) -- COC Global Enterprise, an investment fund led by Argentine businessman Leonardo Scatturice, has acquired a majority stake in Flybondi, Argentina's first low-cost airline.
The takeover comes after months of financial turmoil for the carrier, which faced repeated delays and mass cancellations.
The closure of El Palomar Airport near Buenos Aires during the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult for Flybondi to meet its aircraft leasing payments. In one month, the airline canceled 384 flights.
By June 2024, the airline had amassed an estimated $127 million in debt.
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Analysts in Argentina praised the rescue but also viewed the deal as a potential step toward reviving the "open skies" policy in place from 2016 to 2019, which opened the domestic market to low-cost carriers.
The policy expanded access to Argentina's air travel market, allowing low-cost carriers to operate and improving domestic flight options. It was later rolled back, in part due to its impact on state-owned Aerolíneas Argentinas. President Javier Milei has signaled support for restoring the policy.
Leonardo Scatturice, president of COC Global Enterprise, has also drawn attention for his role in the Flybondi acquisition.
The first time Scatturice's name appeared in the Argentine press was in 2015, during the final years of Cristina Kirchner's presidency. His company, C3 Consultings, was implicated in a non-judicial investigation related to espionage.
An investigation by the State Intelligence Secretariat exposed a network of connections between agents of that agency and businessmen like Scatturice who were engaged in commercial intelligence work, Perfil reported.
Shortly after these events became public, Scatturice relocated to Panama, where he had registered several offshore companies since 2012. Starting in 2020, he settled in the United States.
Scatturice has close ties to the U.S. conservative movement. In December 2024, he co-organized a Conservative Political Action Conference event in Argentina with Barry Bennett, a former adviser to President Donald Trump. Argentine President Javier Milei served as the keynote speaker. Media reports also said Scatturice helped facilitate a meeting between Milei and Trump at CPAC's annual U.S. conference in February 2025.
COC Global Enterprise, a private equity firm based in Miami, focuses on acquiring and developing technology and private aviation companies across Latin America and North America.
In a statement, the firm said its goals for Flybondi include stabilizing the airline's finances in the near term, retaining its 1,525 employees, adding new aircraft to the fleet, and expanding its route network.
Flybondi's share of Argentina's domestic market fell from 25.8% in June 2024 to 19.4% in June 2025, according to OAG Schedules Analyser. Its monthly seat capacity dropped from 343,000 to 288,000 during the same period.
The airline now ranks third in the domestic market, behind state-run Aerolíneas Argentinas with 56.7%, and JetSmart, which nearly doubled its share to 23.9% over the past year.
