Colombian low-cost carrier Ultra Air closed its first six months of scheduled commercial operations with a positive balance. In that period, the company transported a total of 693.530 passengers and carried out 5.361 flights.
According to Juan Fernando Arango, the company’s Vice President of Operations, the occupancy factor during the six-month period exceeded 85%, while 98% of scheduled services were completed.
The executive said: «The results of these first six months of operation, in which we have gained market share in the destinations we fly to, demonstrate the need that Colombians and foreign tourists had and have for a friendly, affordable and punctual alternative to make their travel plans a reality».
«In recent months, we have achieved a share of close to 10% in the routes we operate, a trend that we hope will not be affected by the winds of monopoly that haunt the air passenger transport market in the country», said William Shaw, CEO of the company.
This is not the first time Ultra Air executives have made such a statement. At the end of August, they expressed their opposition to the merger between Avianca and VIVA in a press release. The company founded by William Shaw (also founder of VIVA) and Oscar Herrera argues that, if the merger goes ahead, the two companies would take 65% of the domestic market. Thus, it would affect smaller airlines and, ultimately, consumers.
Current fleet and network
Ultra Air’s fleet currently consists of six Airbus A320s on lease. The airline operates flights from four main bases in Colombia.
- From Bogotá (BOG): Cali (CLO), Cartagena (CTG), Medellín (MDE), San Andrés (ADZ) and Santa Marta (SMR).
- From Cali (CLO): Cartagena (CTG), San Andrés (ADZ) and Santa Marta (SMR).
- From Medellín (MDE): Cartagena (CTG) and Santa Marta (SMR).
- From Pereira (PEI): Cartagena (CTG) and Santa Marta (SMR).
It also announced that it will add four new connections from José María Córdova International Airport (MDE), located in the municipality of Rionegro, which serves the city of Medellín. It will fly to Barranquilla (BAQ), Montería (MTR) and San Andrés (ADZ) from October, while it will inaugurate services to Cúcuta (CUC) in December.
In this way, the company, which began operations on 23 February this year, will land at three new airports. There, it will compete with Avianca, Easyfly, LATAM and VIVA, airlines that have a strong presence there.
