BUENOS AIRES, July 10 (Reuters) - The Argentine

government published a sweeping decree on Wednesday aimed at

opening up the country's aviation sector, inviting foreign

airlines to enter the market long dominated by state-run carrier

Aerolineas Argentinas.

The reform should boost the number of routes, flight

frequencies and bring in more competitors, the transportation

secretariat said in a statement.

Carriers can now petition to operate as many routes and

frequencies as they want, subject to safety approval, according

to the decree.

Airlines also now have full control over how much they

charge for tickets, the decree states, doing away with a dormant

regulation which allowed the government to set a price floor.

The administration of libertarian President Javier Milei,

who took office in December, has tied up a number of "open-skies

agreements" with other countries in recent months, allowing

their airlines to operate domestic routes in Argentina under

some conditions.

Brazil, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Uruguay and Canada

have all signed agreements so far, potentially opening up the

Argentine market to carriers from Gol to LATAM

to Air Canada ( ACDVF ).

The transportation secretariat said on Wednesday that more

such agreements should be signed in coming months.

Aerolineas Argentinas operated 62% of domestic flights in

May, according to the most recent regulator data available.

Trailing behind it were local low-cost airline Flybondi with 26%

of the domestic market and Chilean carrier Jetsmart with 11%.

The state-run carrier's future remains uncertain as Milei

has previously said he will privatize the airline. However, a

bid to do so was scrapped from an omnibus reform bill passed by

Congress last month.

Milei's spokesman, Manuel Adorni, said in an interview

published last week by a local outlet that the government may

try to make some state-run companies, such as Aerolineas, more

profitable before looking to privatize them or seek out a buyer.

Last year, Aerolineas turned a $32 million net profit,

according to the company.

Unions have heavily criticized the industry reforms, arguing

that the government is hurting Aerolineas' operations and

employees in order to bring in low-cost competitors.

Aerolineas has cut some frequencies and trimmed its

workforce in recent months, according to the unions.