Avianca To Take Network 'Risks,' Plans Paris Launch

Avianca will “continue taking risks” with its network strategy as it seeks to add more point-to-point connections and growth traffic by 25% to more than 40 million passengers this year, according to President and CEO Frederico Pedreira.

Speaking at Routes Americas 2024, he said that most of the Colombian airline’s growth after exiting Chapter 11 in late 2021 has been on point-to-point routes, with almost 20 new nonstop services started in the past 12 months alone. They include flights between Quito, Ecuador, and New York John F. Kennedy, which traditionally have operated via Bogotá.

“It was clear we had to start flying more point-to-point or else our network didn't make a lot of sense,” Pedreira said. “This point-to-point growth will continue, and we will continue taking risks. This means that in every 10 [routes] that we open, we expect that two or three won’t work.”

He cited San Jose-Caracas as a service that failed to match expectations, leading to its suspension. However, Pedreira said the addition of more experimental point-to-point routes will continue—and he does not see the strategy affecting the Star Alliance member’s hub-and-spoke network out of Bogotá’s El Dorado International Airport (BOG).

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“[The strategy] is working because we have added a lot of traffic from secondary cities in Colombia to the U.S., and we're able to still maintain our historical traffic from Bogotá to the U.S.,” Pedreira said.

Alongside the increase in point-to-point flying, Avianca has ramped up domestic operations in Colombia following the exit of ULCCs Viva and Ultra Air during the first quarter of 2023, growing capacity by about 38% year-on-year, according to data provided by OAG Schedules Analyser. Much of this has focused on BOG, with domestic capacity from the airport up by about 41%.

Pedreira said there would be further expansion from Bogotá on international routes, with flights to Paris Charles de Gaulle set to start this year after a 23-year absence. Although the schedule is yet to be confirmed, Colombia’s civil aviation authority Aerocivil approved the plans in February, and Colombian President Gustavo Petro welcomed the move on March 18.

Additionally, Avianca on March 25 confirmed a new international route linking San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, and Montreal. Flights will be offered three times per week from June 1 using Airbus A320 aircraft. The service becomes the carrier’s second new route to Montreal alongside flights from BOG, which start on March 31.

Avianca transported 32 million passengers in 2023—the highest figure in its history and a 27.8% increase on the previous year. Total revenues rose to $4.77 billion, up 15% on 2022.