This Thursday, February 23, ultra air is completing its first year of operations in Colombia and the balance it has is more than 12,500 flights made on 17 routes to and from ten main cities in the country.
In addition, mobilize more than 1.8 million passengers and already reaches a 8 percent national domestic market sharewhile in the cities that it currently operates it is 14 percent.
(Also read: Easyfly opens 9 routes in 2023 and hopes to transport 4% more passengers)
The most requested destinations by Colombians continue to be beach ones such as Cartagena, Santa Marta and San Andrés, followed by Medellín and Bogotá.
There is concern about factors such as the rise in the dollar and the price of fuel, which end up impacting the cost structure and rates
William Shaw, founder and CEO of Ultra Air, told EL TIEMPO that in 2023 planes are open new routes in Colombia, increase frequenciesexpand the aircraft fleet and venture into the international market.
«This year the Civil Aeronautics already allows us to start with international operations. In November we made the request for international flights and we already have approval to start the certification process in some destinations like Ecuador”, he said.
The ultra-low-cost airline could start flying to this neighboring country in about six months, but it is also waiting to receive authorizations for other destinations such as Aruba, Punta Cana and Venezuela. In addition, the United States and Mexico are part of these expansion plans.
In Colombia, the idea is to have 10 additional routes in the coming months and cover approximately 80 percent of the domestic market. “In other words, we are going to fly wherever else we can take Colombians,” Shaw said. One of these new destinations could be Pasto.
But in order to achieve these growth targets, Ultra Air is also aiming to increase its fleet and add four aircraft by July to have a total of 10 aircraft.
«However, there are concerns about factors such as the rise of the dollar and the price of fuelthat end up impacting the cost structure and rates, and other macroeconomic variables such as inflation and interest rates that, we hope, do not end up curbing consumption in relation to travel and transportation,” Shaw said.
The CEO of Ultra Air also highlighted that New promotions are being launched every Tuesday with discounts of up to 70 percent for the 17 routes that they cover in the country. In addition, with part of the celebration of its first anniversary tomorrow, Friday, additional offers will be announced.
(Also read: Viva Air appoints Francisco Lalinde as interim president and CEO)
The challenges in Colombia for airlines
In order to stimulate tourism in the country, the National Government lowered VAT on tickets and jet fuel at 5 percentbut these benefits ended on December 31, 2022. For this reason, William Shaw believes that alternatives should be sought that can further stimulate the low cost of travel.
«We view with great caution the situation that is being experienced on the Island of San Andrés, where due to having to import fuel and the distance to travel, many airlines have withdrawn their capacity and many people who live from tourism are being affected,» added.
(Also read: Viva Air workers will protest to keep their jobs)
It is also required to expand the taxiways of some airports in the country such as Santa Marta or Cartagena, as well as to increase the number of el dorado airport slot machine to open more trades in this terminal.
William Shaw was one of the founders of Viva Air, which was sold in 2017. He says that he is «very sad» for what the airline is going through right now, but if the integration with Avianca occurs, he considers it important that have beware of the monopoly of airport infrastructurespecifically, with the slots (arrival and departure times) of the El Dorado airport, the counters and access to certain vital spaces for the operation of an airline, in order not to affect the operation or expansion of other companies such as Ultra Air.
