LATAM Airlines to resume Argentina flights later Saturday

LATAM Airlines Group SA said on Saturday it will resume flights to, from and within Argentina by 1530 GMT after state company Intercargo unilaterally decided on Friday to stop providing services to the carrier.

Argentine state company Intercargo manages services for the loading and unloading of luggage on airplanes, the transportation of passengers on buses to terminals, and provides the jet bridge services that connect aircraft to the airport, allowing passengers to embark and disembark.

LATAM Airlines, the region's largest carrier, said in a statement that it has "dispatched additional flights to transport passengers whose travel was affected yesterday (Friday) and today (Saturday)."

Intercargo said on Friday that the tariffs in the current contract with LATAM Airlines should be raised to comply with new government rules.

In a statement, published by Argentine state news agency Telam, Intercargo said LATAM "doesn't want to pay more than what was agreed initially" and said it is owed a debt of nearly 40 million Argentine pesos ($7.6 million).

The Chile-based airline has domestic operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

(Reporting by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Eric Beech)