The director of Aerolíneas Argentinas Mariano Recalde said "the government received the company with a large debt, which Marsans Group (Spanish operator) denied." Then he pointed at the media: "I am surprised about the concern expressed now by the press about the performance of the firm, when its functioning was worse some time ago."

"We will issue a statement describing how the company worked under private capitals and how we want it to work from now on," Recalde added.

He finally underlined that "Aerolíneas Argentinas is a public service we must maintain. No one can imagine closing a hospital because it's unprofitable."

• Aerolíneas Argentinas' flight heading to Miami took off 15hs late