Avianca Group began to reduce its operations due to a combination of macroeconomic factors in Latin America and the Caribbean and a decrease in future reserves, despite the fact that the region was one of the regions with the best recovery rates after the easing of the restrictions that arose due to the pandemic.
When reached by Aviacionline, the company indicated that the increase in oil prices, the unprecedented inflation in Latin America and its main economies and the devaluation of currencies in the region have had a negative impact on the airline industry.
«Faced with this situation, which is beyond the airlines’ control, the industry has sought mechanisms to mitigate the impact. Airlines around the world, and not only Avianca, have had to permanently monitor demand in all markets to adjust capacity according to the behavior of each one», stated Avianca.
The company announced that the reduction will be temporary, and that passengers are being relocated through its main bases and partners.
According to data obtained by Aviacionline through Cirium, between August 30 and October 31, Avianca will reduce 11.8% of its operations throughout the group. In its Central American subsidiaries there will be a reduction of -27.1% of its operations, in the Colombian international market -14.5%, in the domestic market -7.5% and in its subsidiary in Ecuador -3.5%.
Destinations to the United States will be the most affected, losing 37% of their frequencies in the coming weeks.
The only destinations in Avianca’s network that will not be affected by the frequency cuts are Aruba, Curacao, Buenos Aires (Argentina); São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); La Paz and Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia); Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic); Barcelona and Madrid (Spain) and London (United Kingdom).
Routes suspended between August and October
According to the current schedule, twelve links will be temporarily suspended from August 31 until the end of October, being the following:
- Barranquilla (BAQ), Colombia – Miami (MIA).
- Cali (CLO) – Miami (MIA).
- Cali (CLO) – New York (JFK).
- Cali (CLO) – Orlando (MCO).
- Cartagena (CTG) – New York (JFK).
- Medellin (MDE) – Miami (MIA).
- Medellin (MDE) – New York (JFK).
- Medellín (MDE) – Orlando (MCO)
- Guatemala (GUA) – New York (JFK).
- Guatemala (GUA) – Washington (IAD) (JFK).
- San Salvador (SAL), El Salvador – Lima (LIM), Peru.
- Guayaquil (GYE), Ecuador – Lima (LIM), Peru.
Suspended routes with no restart date
Six links appear without a restart date, mainly from bases in Central America.
- Guatemala (GUA) – Miami (MIA), United States.
- San Pedro Sula (SAP), Honduras – Miami (MIA), United States.
- San Salvador (SAL), El Salvador – Panama/Tocumen (PTY).
- San José (SJO), Costa Rica – Los Angeles (LAX), United States.
- San José (SJO), Costa Rica – Miami (MIA), United States.
- San José (SJO), Costa Rica – New York (JFK), United States.
Avianca will continue its expansion plan
After exiting Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Law, the company has focused on strengthening its business model, aiming to open 50 new routes by 2023, with a strong focus on intermediate cities.
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During this process, the company is renovating the interiors of its narrow-body aircraft, eliminating the business class to incorporate more seats in three economy classes (Premium, Plus and Economy), allowing it to increase the number of seats offered to its destinations and compete directly in the low-cost segment.
Every month Avianca requests new routes from the region’s aviation authorities. The latest request was made in early August in Colombia, where it seeks to connect Cartagena with Chile and Brazil; Pereira with New York; and between Medellin and Aruba.
Ecuador and Costa Rica have also requested flights to the United States and Argentina, respectively.
The Colombian and Ecuadorian domestic markets continue to be strong despite the difficulties mentioned at the beginning of this note, where the only two routes suspended are from Bucaramanga to Cali and Cartagena and from Bogota to Corozal.
During the restructuring process and to simplify its fleet, it retired its A330-300, A321neo and ATR 72-600 between 2020 and 2022.
Avianca currently has a fleet of 21 Airbus A319s, 73 A320ceo, 16 A320neo, six A321ceo, five A330-200s and thirteen Boeing 787-8s. It also has orders for four additional A320ceo and 93 A320neo.
