In a year marked by widespread delays in Airbus aircraft deliveries due to production and supply chain challenges, JetSMART concluded 2023 with the receipt of six new A320/A321neo aircraft in December. This strategic move positions the ultra-low-cost airline, backed by Indigo Partners, to start 2024 with enhanced capabilities, facilitating increased frequencies and potential expansions into new territories.
Throughout 2023, JetSMART had received two Airbus A321neo and two Airbus A320neo, including the first from Mobile, Alabama, United States, in August 2023. However, it was only in December that the airline experienced a series of consecutive deliveries.
On December 4, the first arrival was an Airbus A321neo, registered as CC-DIB (Blue-footed Booby). Almost simultaneously, another A321neo, with the registration CC-DIE (Sun Parakeet), landed in Santiago from Toulouse on the 14th, and an A320neo, identified as CC-DIA (Cock-of-the-rock), arrived from Mobile on the 15th.
The sequence concluded with the arrival of three aircraft, between December 21 and 22, two Airbus A320neo with registration CC-DID (Golden Lion Tamarin) and CC-DIH (Toco Toucan) from Mobile. On December 22, an A321neo registered as CC-DIC (Southern River Otter) arrived after making three stops from Hamburg.
With these deliveries, the low-cost carrier closed 2023 with a total of 32 aircraft. JetSMART’s fleet will consist of eleven Airbus A320ceo, thirteen A320neo, and eight A321neo.
However, according to Cirium Fleet, there are four A320neo and one A321neo currently in production. The following registrations have been reserved for the A320neo: CC-DIG (Kodkod), CC-DIJ (Alpaca); for the A321neo: CC-DIF; the rest are yet to be defined.
Distribution of JetSmart’s A320/A321NEO Aircraft
JetSMART plans to incorporate seven Airbus A320neo aircraft into its new Colombian subsidiary starting in March 2024, with the potential to accelerate the schedule depending on demand. In Peru, it started 2024 with six Airbus A320neo. Additionally, as part of a capacity adjustment, an Airbus A320ceo (V-KGO) was transferred from Argentina to Chile, leaving the Argentinian subsidiary with seven aircraft temporarily.
JetSMART’s ambitious regional expansion plan for 2024 includes entering its eighth South American country, Ecuador, leaving Venezuela and Bolivia as the only markets in the region yet to be explored (excluding Suriname and Guyana). It also plans to begin its domestic operations in Colombia during the second quarter of 2024.
Looking ahead, JetSMART aims to build a fleet of 125 aircraft by 2029, solidifying its position in Latin America. This plan includes the introduction of twelve A321XLRs for operations to North America and the Caribbean from Chile and Argentina. By 2028, the airline intends to reach the milestone of 100 aircraft and 100 million passengers transported.
“2023 has been a year of recovery for the aviation industry in South America, particularly in the domestic markets of Chile, Peru, and Argentina where the total capacity is now close to what it was in 2019. In the case of JetSMART, today we are more than 2.5 times the size we were before the pandemic, a growth without precedent, because a crisis must be well leveraged, and we have been able to find opportunities where others saw problems,” said Estuardo Ortiz, CEO of JetSMART, highlighting that they transported a record 8.2 million passengers in 2023, growing by 52%.
«We closed 2023 serving more than 70 routes, making us the Ultra Low-Cost Airline with the most routes in the region. It has been very gratifying to see the fruits of several years of work and of all the Rockstars at JetSMART, as we received our 32nd aircraft, a brand-new A321neo, making us the largest ULCC in South America. All these are firm and positive steps towards our dream of connecting all South Americans and becoming the leading ULCC in the region. We are facing a 2024 full of opportunities and challenges, with the conviction of being able to add and contribute to each and every one of our passengers, communities, and countries, in a sustainable way to their development,» he concluded.
