The routes that remained without operation without Viva and Ultra Air – Sectors – Economy

The country has completed four and three months without seeing the fleet of Live and Ultra Air. Faced with this loss, the air market has quickly recomposed itself to serve passengers eager to travel across the country, especially during the holiday season. However, there is still a long way to go.

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Viva’s offer as of October was 60 routes, of which 47 were national and 13 international. However, at the close of operations in February, this number was reduced to just 42, of which 31 were national and 11 international. Of these 31 routes, 11 were not shared with another operator and after the closure of operations they were ‘orphaned’.

To date, according to Civil Aviationl, two have been adopted by the competition. One of them is Medellín – Villavicencio which was taken by EasyFly and the other Armenia – Medellín which is served by Avianca. According to the air authority, the other nine domestic routes remain without an operator.

In the case of international routes, of the 11 that Viva had, three are not being operated, that is, Cartagena – Mexico, Buenos Aires – Medellín and São Paulo – Medellín.

In the case of Ultra, Of the 17 domestic routes it had, only one before the closing of operations on March 30 is unattended, which is Medellín – Cúcuta.

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Recoil?

Although the airlines have found gaps in the market to operate, this realignment process has made it clear that despite their efforts, due to external factors, these companies have decided to launch more routes from the el dorado airport in bogotausing it as its hub, instead of serving regional routes as the two low cost did.

According to experts in the sector, this ‘point-to-point’ model is being affected by the drop in passengers in the national market, which for April was 21% annually, in addition to increases above two digits in ticket prices. they have caused the demand to go down, therefore it is less profitable for the big airlines to operate there.

“This makes it once again more efficient to take passengers to their destination through a hub,” acknowledges the expert.

An example of this occurs with Latin America, which strengthened its routes to and from Bogotá in destinations such as Cartagena, Santa Marta, and San Andrés, also launched the Bogotá – Riohacha route. With the existing offer, in these months it increased its structural capacity by 20% to serve travelers who needed connectivity, making more than five new aircraft available to the market.

Avianca, for its part, in this period of time has launched 14 routes to its network, eight of which will touch Colombian territory. Among the domestic ones, Bogotá – Ipiales, Armenia – Medellín, San Andrés – Cali and San Andrés – Medellín (will operate from this July 6) stand out. It is worth remembering that the latter is very close to the one left by Viva Air (San Andrés – Pereira), but in this potential market it is greater due to its location. With these last two routes, Avianca opted to rebuild the air market on the island that depended 60% on the Viva operation.

Internationally from or to Colombian soil, Avianca It has opted to reach two cities in Brazil, which although they are not in São Paulo, as Viva operated, are in strategic places in the country: Manaus and Belo Horizonte departing from Bogotá. Likewise, the Medellín – Quito – Medellín and Bogotá – Boston – Bogotá route began to operate. With these changes, the airline expects to add 10 more aircraft to its aircraft fleet.

Wingo, on the other hand, it opened four routes: Bogotá – Barranquilla, which began in May; Bogotá – Pereira and Bogotá – Bucaramanga, which began operations in June, and Cali – Aruba, which began on July 1. All these routes consolidate the theory that Bogotá is used as a hub.

Opportunities

Although the big airlines are looking to create more alternatives from El Dorado because of its capacity, it would be expected that easy flight, which has planes with half the capacity of a jet, will take the opportunities to connect ‘point to point’ travelers. However, like the others, it is strengthening its position in Bogotá.

Among the outstanding routes are Bucaramanga, Pitalito, Buenaventura and Cali that connect with Bogotá (the latter will start operating on July 12); Cúcuta, Pasto, Cartagena (which will start operating on July 14) and Valledupar with Medellín (the latter was operated by Viva Air) and La Macarena/ Caño Cristales with Bogotá, Medellín and Cali. In addition, he requested to reach Nuquí and San Gil from the capital.

Despite the increase in their presence, many of the ‘orphan’ regional routes are not of interest to the market, so it seems that they will not be operated.

PAULA GALEANO BALAGUERA
Portfolio Journalist