U.S. and Argentina remove flight restrictions

The U.S. and Argentina have agreed upon an amendment that liberalizes the air services agreement the two countries originally signed in 1985.

"This agreement will expand our two countries' already strong commercial and economic ties by supporting greater air travel and commerce," U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao said in a prepared statement.

The agreement calls for unrestricted capacity on air service between the U.S. and Argentina as well as open route rights, open codesharing opportunities and no limit on the number of carriers that serve the two countries. The agreement also commits both governments to "high standards of safety and security," the DOT said.

Last year, U.S. and Argentine airlines carried nearly 1.8 million passengers between the two countries with nearly one million of those passengers flying the Miami-Buenos Aires route.