JetSMART withdraws from Ultra Air acquisition

Just one week after signing a letter of understanding to explore the possibilities of purchasing Ultra Air, JetSMART announced on Wednesday afternoon that it will not proceed with that process while it continues to establish an airline under its own brand in Colombia.

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«We have advanced in the process and believe that, due to various factors, it is not possible to continue with the intention of purchasing Ultra Air, and we have canceled the letter of understanding and terminated the process,» said Estuardo Ortiz, CEO of JetSMART.

«Our commitment and confidence in the Colombian market remains strong. As we have stated throughout this time, at JetSMART we will continue to focus on meeting the requirements of our certification process by working closely with the Civil Aviation Authority, who have performed at the highest level of professionalism. In this way, we hope to obtain our Air Operator License in Colombia, with the aim of starting operations as soon as possible and thus participate in the slot reassignment process at El Dorado Airport,» added the executive.

This news comes a day after Aerocivil decided to authorize, albeit with certain conditions, the integration of Viva and Avianca, a process delayed by seven months that led to the closure of the ultra-low-cost airline, leaving a void that JetSMART can take advantage of.

Ultra Air in the Colombian market

Ultra Air launched its regular flights in February 2022, and since then has transported more than 1.8 million passengers on over 12,000 flights, achieving an 8% market share in Colombia.

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Their network reaches 10 cities in Colombia through 17 routes, where they claim that fares have been reduced by an average of 13% since they started flying.

Ultra Air routes

From Bogotá (BOG) to:

• Cali (CLO); 21 flights per week.
• Cartagena (CTG); 13 flights per week.
• Medellín/Rionegro (MDE); 36 flights per week.
• Santa Marta (SMR); 15 flights per week.

From Medellín (MDE) to:

• Barranquilla (BAQ); 3 flights per week.
• Cali (CLO); 7 flights per week.
• Cartagena (CTG); 11 flights per week.
• Montería (MTR); 4 flights per week.

From Cali (CLO) to:

• Cartagena (CTG); 3 flights per week.
• San Andrés (ADZ); 12 flights per week. Santa Marta (SMR); 3 flights per week.

From Pereira (PEI) to:

• Cartagena (CTG); 3 flights per week, resuming on June 2.

During their first anniversary celebration, Ultra Air stated that in 2023, they plan to increase their fleet from six to ten Airbus A320s to transport 3 million passengers.