Avianca announced its expansion plan for the 2023 end-of-year season, highlighting a significant increase in flight operations within Colombia and new international connections.
The announcement was made by Adrián Neuhauser, CEO of Avianca and Federico Pedreira, the new “deputy” CEO of the company.
This growth plan contemplates an increase of 23% in the number of flights scheduled from the end of October, which will raise the weekly offer to more than 5,200 flights with a capacity of 937,000 seats, which represents an increase of 24% compared to the current offer.
Internationally, Avianca also plans to increase frequencies on several routes. For example, Punta Cana from 28 to 34 flights, Boston will go from 10 to 14 flights per week, New York from 6 to 8 flights, Orlando from 22 to 28 flights, Fort Lauderdale from 6 to 10 flights, El Salvador from 24 to 28 flights, Guatemala from 14 to 20 flights, Puerto Rico from 14 to 20 flights, Guayaquil from 58 to 64 flights, Panama City from 16 to 38 flights, and Curacao from 16 to 22 weekly flights.
At the national level
To make this possible, Avianca plans to add 16 additional aircraft to its fleet, consisting of 14 Airbus A320neo and 2 A320ceo.
This expanding investment reaches 473 million dollars and will generate more than 1,200 jobs directly, of which more than 800 will be in Colombia, in addition to creating more than 600 indirect jobs.
With regards to the domestic operations in Colombia, these will see a significant increase in flight frequencies.
Among the notable changes are a 75% increase in flights to San Andrés, the addition of a second daily flight to Villavicencio, one daily flight to Ipiales, four daily flights to Riohacha, and a 66% increase in frequencies to Pasto.
The company also highlighted its solid performance in punctuality, with a rate of 86.49%. In addition, it noted that the compliance rate in baggage handling improved considerably, passing from 4.9 (per thousand passengers) in 2019 to 1.4 in 2022.
In terms of fleet, with the incorporation of the 16 additional aircraft, Avianca will operate a fleet of 127 A320 family aircraft. Additionally, it plans to receive three additional Boeing 787 aircraft in 2024, two in the first quarter and one additional in the second quarter. In the cargo division, Avianca Cargo will add four Airbus A330F aircraft in 2024.
The airline also confirmed that it has a pending order for more than 80 aircraft to Airbus, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2024.
Finally, Avianca highlighted that this increase in frequencies is possible thanks to the expansion of the operating capacity at the El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, which will allow a limit of 74 operations per hour, despite an IATA study which suggested a limit of 66 operations per hour.
The company explained that 70 operating slots were returned in Bogotá, which had historically been operated by the airline, and which were granted 21 additional slots by request to the aeronautical authorities. These additional slots are those that will allow the increase in the operation of Avianca for the end of year season.