After 17 years of operation in Colombia, the airline easy fly change your image and name. Starting in August, it will be called Click to start a new stage that will allow you, mainly, to “connect with our country’s purpose”.
Easyfly’s general manager, Felipe Gutiérrez, reveals the planes that the airline has to continue connecting the country’s regions and reiterates the call to the National Government to enable benefits that allow opening new routes.
(Also read: Easyfly announces new routes: which destinations will the airline travel to?)
What is the reason for the name change?
What we naturally seek is to redouble our efforts and connect more with the country we serve. Our brand had great benefits, but it did not reflect how we want that moment of connection with the regions to be reflectedwith the cities and with that local vision of aviation.
In a search to find what has led us to overcome all the difficulties that have occurred in recent years, in a search to find what makes us special and what allows us today to have such an important relevance in the country, we found a better name, a name that is spelled the same in all regions.
Clic is written the same in Spanish as in English and we remove the k to eliminate a complexity. Clic refers to that moment of magic and Click with the people, with the regions and with the sites, we believe that we are for the regions of the country that final element with which everything makes sense.
When will users start to see this change?
I am waiting for the confirmation of some internal times to be able to define the launch date at the national level of the new brand, I think that an official launch will be taking place around the second week of August approx.
We are in the production and painting of the new brand in the planesthe production of new uniforms and the change of image in all airports.
This has some conforming times to which We are confirming and reaffirming our investment and our commitment to the countrybecause one does not make all this effort if it is not because one is convinced that there is a future and a hope in the country.
Will there be special prices for this release?
I think that beyond these elements what should be seen is the company’s commitment to the country and to increasingly growing connectivityAssociated with this we are seeing a development in routes.
Recently we are operating routes like Bogotá-Cali, Medellín-Cartagena, Bogotá-Bucaramanga and Bogotá-MedellínThis commitment to Colombia is our brand positioning as the airline with the greatest connectivity in the country and an airline that all regions and intermediate cities in the country can count on.
(Also read: American Airlines announces more flights for the holiday season in Colombia)
Will there be other changes to the airline?
Easyfly General Manager, Felipe Gutiérrez.
This change is not so that the country knows us, this is rather a reinforcement of the identity and of what we are as a company and as people facing the country, but We continue with the same planes and connecting the same intermediate cities with the large capitals, which allow the development of the local economy because in each of our chairs there is a little piece of education, medical services and small and medium-sized companies that want to develop their products.
The awareness of our purpose in the country is what leads us to choose this name, it is not the change in the business model. Us we are not a low cost airlinewe are an airline faithful to our model and it is a direct, practical, flexible and simple connection to intermediate cities without stops.
Hopefully in a more mature connectivity project we can continue to strengthen this network as we have done. In the last eight months we have opened 10 routes: Bogotá-Medellín, Medellín-Pasto, Medellín-Cúcuta, Medellín-Valledupar, Bogotá-Pitalito and Medellín-Cartagena from the Olaya Herrera airport.
In the next three or four weeks we will be opening a route to Nuquí from Bogotá and MedellínThis route will allow us to take people to know that Colombia of whales and adventure. We plan to open the Bogotá-San Gil and Bucaramanga-Cartagena routes in the second semester, we also continue to explore destinations such as Puerto Inírida.
This destination, despite the fact that it has great difficulties, represents the proposal that we have made to the National Government to give aviation a regional perspective with a VAT and a regional fuel in order to provide Puerto Inírida with direct and efficient connectivity so that this area of the country can continue to be developed.
Have you had any response from the Government regarding these proposals?
Not for now, but I believe in that path which, in addition, would allow greater development and greater distribution of the economy towards this region.
If in Puerto Inírida we were able to get subsidized maritime transport It could be a fuel similar to that found in capital cities such as Bogotá and Medellín and it would be an element that would make it possible to offer a service to this region.
And if we also achieve a regional VAT from the Government so that the tickets for an area like Puerto Inírida have a differential VAT of less than 19 percent demand is also stimulated. There we would have a perfect combination between public policies and private initiatives that would allow Click to connect this region.
What percentage should that subsidy be?
We are not talking about a discount on the cost of fuel production, but rather transportation, which represents approximately 35 percent of the cost of a chair.
All the efforts that can be made around reduce the effect of transport of fuel naturally encourage the private sector because they have a lower cost. If we manage to accompany this with a lower VAT, the demand from a region like Puerto Inírida would be stimulated to reach Bogotá or other destinations.
How many routes are left to open in 2023?
From the anticipated needs, We are missing Bogotá-Nuquí and Medellín-Nuquí, which will open in about three weeks, we are waiting for the final delivery of the runway by the Civil Aeronautics. We are confident that it will be very fast and that we can operate for the whale season.
Bogotá-San Gil is also scheduled for August. This is going to carry out a total of 12 new routes between January and August and we would need six to complete the 60, but they will be announced. We really want to open Bucaramanga-Cartagena and it would be a permanent route.
Are you going to increase the aircraft fleet to meet the growing demand?
With the 20 aircraft that we currently have in the company we make between 4,800 and 5,000 monthly flightswhich positions us as the second largest operator in the country in terms of flights.
With this fleet we plan our development for 2023, for 2024 and 2025, depending on how things settle a bit, We will have the opportunity to evaluate the incorporation of more aircraft.
(Also read: And the ticket prices did not fly / Clear Accounts)
How are the airline’s finances?
We are a team of 1,000 people who have shown the value of different challenges. We already have 17 years of operation in the market, in those years everything has happened, from the oil crisis to inflationary processes Like the one we experienced last year with a historic devaluation, we reached a dollar at 5,000 pesos.
The country has been able to continue counting on Easyfly and, in fact, during these contexts Easyfly has had growth and increasingly important connectivity. These tests have been marked throughout the history of the company and the company has always, with its 1,000 employeeshas been focused on connecting Colombia and clicking with the regions.
In the last 12 months we have approximately 60,000 million pesos in profits, which has allowed us to pay more than 72,000 million pesos of liabilities related to the business construction of the pandemic. This has allowed us to comply with all our creditors and all our suppliers as they deserve.
We have operating margins that are between 9 and 12 percent, these margins are extremely special for this industry and give us the strength and financial solidity to re-launch into the market and give you a rejuvenated and strong face.
With the departure of Ultra and Viva Air, how much do you expect to grow in market share?
More than thinking about a market share, what we have sought sustainable growth and that allows us to consolidate our business model in the country and we have done so.
This year we are going to close with two million passengers transporteda figure quite similar to that of the previous year, but with an 18 to 20 percent increase in sales.
In the first six months of the year alone, our revenue growth has been 18 percent, which allows us, in terms of budget execution, to be well on track to exceed the growth target it uses. Last year we grew 53 percent compared to 2021 in terms of sales.
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