Avianca expands direct flights between Brazil and Colombia – 02/02/2023 – Market

Avianca will offer more direct connections between Brazil and Colombia at the beginning of 2023, as part of a strategy to attract more passengers while advancing in the union with the Brazilian airline Gol.

In January, the São Paulo to Cartagena route was inaugurated, which connects the two cities in 6h30min. Tickets start at BRL 1,031 each way.

As of March, there will be direct flights from Belo Horizonte and Manaus to Bogotá. Avianca also connects the Colombian capital to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In all, there are 40 weekly flights between the two countries.

The new connection leaving São Paulo currently has three weekly flights in each direction. After March, the frequency should drop to two. On the way to Colombia, the flight leaves Guarulhos at 5:45 am. The schedule is a bit ungrateful, because you have to arrive at the airport at dawn.

At the end of the trip, however, it will still be 10:30 am in Cartagena, which allows you to enjoy a good part of the day there. The small local airport is about half an hour’s drive from the hotel zone and historic center.

The company hopes that Cartagena will attract more Brazilians looking to get to know the Caribbean, especially since Mexico, which also offers beaches with clear blue waters, started to require a visa from Brazilian tourists in August 2022. Colombia does not even ask for a passport : the Brazilian RG is accepted at the borders.

Avianca is in a moment of recovery, after going through a judicial recovery process, which started in 2020. The company had US$ 7.3 billion in debt in 2019, according to the Reuters agency, and was in an unsustainable situation with the pandemic, which paralyzed the airline industry.

Colombian Avianca has no direct relationship with Avianca Brasil, which was declared bankrupt in 2020 and ceased to operate. The Brazilian unit was controlled by the same Colombian owners, but had separate operations.

“2022 was a year of transition, of many changes, and 2023 should be one of consolidation. We are advancing towards a more democratic Avianca”, says Gustavo Esusy, commercial director of the company for the Mercosur countries.

Last year, the company transported 24.6 million customers and added 129 routes, which connect 24 countries in the Americas and Europe. Outside Brazil, the company launched another 30 direct routes, to attract passengers who avoid connections.

A symbol of change is in the seats: aircraft are no longer having a business class. With that, there will be some premium seats, a few others called economy plus, with more legroom, and the other seats, now with thinner armchairs. Thus, more seats fit on the plane, which reduces costs and can help lower prices.

Another sign that Avianca is heading towards the low-cost model is the lack of in-flight service: although the SP-Cartagena flight lasts more than six hours, food and drinks need to be paid separately. A cheese and ham sandwich costs US$5.50 (about R$28). A 600 ml water costs US$ 1.50 (R$ 7.60).

In 2022, Avianca signed an agreement with Gol to create Abra, a holding company that will combine the operations of the two brands. “The agreement has already been approved by the governments and soon we will have more news”, says Esusy.

The joint seeks to reduce costs when buying inputs and expanding possibilities. The two companies compete on a few routes, and their union enhances the network: Gol has many destinations in Brazil and Avianca brings connections to Latin America, the USA and European destinations.

The expectation is that the two brands will continue to operate independently. The inspiration for Abra, which will be headquartered in the United Kingdom, is the IAG group, which brings together brands such as Iberia and British Airways, and KLM Air France, whose union also maintained two separate structures.

Gol and Avianca have different trajectories: the Colombian company is one of the oldest in the world, with 103 years old, while the Brazilian one was created in the 21st century: its operations started in 2001.

While uniting with Gol, Avianca is trying to close another partnership in Colombia: with competitor Viva, a low-cost airline.

In a somewhat complex deal, in April 2022, the two companies reached an agreement to unify their economic rights, but without changes in the management and operation of the companies. However, months later, Avianca said that Viva’s financial situation was in danger, and proposed to unify part of the operations to cut costs and be able to invest in Viva.

The Colombian government, however, saw a risk to competition and opened a process to analyze whether or not to authorize the integration. After months of debates, on January 18, Aerocivil (the Colombian aviation authority) annulled the case because it found an undisclosed “substantial irregularity in the administrative process”. As a result, the procedure had to start over from scratch and there is no forecast for completion.