Boliviana de Aviación (BoA) transported 4,295,431 passengers during 2022, surpassing for the first time the barrier of 4 million travelers, as detailed by the Bolivian Information Agency (ABI).
According to data obtained through BoA, the company obtained a 17.11% growth with respect to 2019, year in which it transported 3,667,829 passengers.
In the international market, its destinations moved the following:
- São Paulo/Guarulhos (GRU), Brazil: 168,737 (January to November), according to ANAC Brazil.
- Buenos Aires/Ezeiza (EZE), Argentina: 143,814, according to ANAC Argentina.
- Madrid (MAD), Spain: 71,821, according to AENA.
- Lima (LIM), Peru: 42,936 (January to November), according to DGAC Peru.
Due to lack of data, Miami is not on the list.
Ronald Casso, general manager of the airline, stated that due to the exponential growth in demand, limitations were identified that forced BoA to design a growth plan for technical and operational personnel to guarantee safety and passenger service.
This increase, although beneficial for the company because it reflects an economic recovery in the country, «has also confronted us with a series of problems and inconveniences that we have experienced in recent months,» said Casso.
The problems referred to exceed the company’s opportunities for improvement: infrastructure failures and the saturation of airspace and airports were also seen. He indicated that for this reason, detailed technical evaluations were carried out to design the plan to train more personnel to guarantee the safety of operations.
«Because of this accelerated growth we are forced to train more personnel and do it in the best way so that the safety of operations is guaranteed. We have reported several times that we always put safety first,» he explained.
Due to several complaints of delayed flights and disinformation to passengers, the Telecommunications and Transport Regulation and Inspection Authority (ATT) demanded, in mid-December, that the state-owned airline present an «action plan to immediately strengthen its services».
New aircraft and destinations for 2023
The company is currently modernizing its fleet, replacing all of its Boeing 737-300s and Boeing 767s.
During 2022, BoA took delivery of four Boeing 737-800s between 16 and 13 years old, allowing it to replace the Boeing 737-300s that are more than 20 years old and place them on routes with the highest demand, replacing the Boeing 737-700s that will operate on less busy routes.
In addition, in order to meet the growing fleet, the construction of a new maintenance hangar valued at 50 million Bolivianos is expected to be completed by May 2023.
As part of its renewal program, the state-owned company plans to add three Airbus A330-200 aircraft to its fleet, ordered at FIDAE 2022.
However, there are delays in the delivery of the A330s due to problems in MRO services and the supply chain, an issue that affects the industry globally.
Casso had told Aviacionline during the ALTA Forum last October that the three Airbus A330-200s are in Europe (Birmingham, Italy and Germany) and previously operated for Virgin Australia.
The aircraft will maintain the former company’s interior, featuring a better business and economy class than its former Boeing 767s. They will have a revamped livery, in-flight entertainment, and new catering.
BoA also plans to incorporate a third CRJ 200 to improve the network of domestic destinations, adding cities such as Rurrenabaque, Riberalta and Guayaramerín.
During 2023 it will seek to operate to Cancun (CUN), Mexico; Punta Cana (PUJ), Dominican Republic; Asuncion (ASU), Paraguay; and Santiago (SCL), Chile; an offer that will strengthen the hub at Viru Viru International Airport, which serves Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
In reference to airport saturation, Casso has urged the Bolivian government to improve existing terminals. In recent years, airports such as Chimoré, Monteagudo, Ixiamas and San Ignacio have been inaugurated in Bolivia, but did not have enough demand to sustain regular flights.
