After a failed attempt and halt due to quarantine, Avianca seeks to add tracks to Argentina

After the 2020 pandemic and the complete shutdown experienced by all airlines, A few days ago, Avianca asked the Colombian civil aviation company for permission to operate the Medellin-Buenos Aires, Bogota-Cordoba and Cali-Buenos Aires routes. The flights will be operated by Airbus A319 and Airbus A320neo.

In 2017, I started working in Argentina Avian Airlines, which is an Avianca Argentina company that operates completely independently of Avianca Holdings (Colombia). It worked as a regional airline made up of a Brazilian conglomerate Synergy group.

The airline was established in 2016 after purchasing by the department Synergy Aerospace from the airline Maker Jet, owned by Makri group.

After the acquisition of Macair Jet, Synergy Group began negotiations with the then-president’s government Mauricio Macri To form a new airline that will be called Avian Lineas Aereas but will operate commercially as Avianca thanks to a trademark licensing agreement that will keep the new and Colombian airline completely independent of each other.

It installed its air base at Teniente Benjamin Matenzo International Airport in San Miguel de Tucumán and in mid-2017 received the first ATR 72-600. but nevertheless It took months to start flyingIt will be in November of that year when he travels for the first time to connect Buenos Aires with Rosario with two daily flights. In the same month, the planes will operate between Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata.

Avian Lineas Aereas operates in our country until June 2019 Routes that connect Buenos Aires Metropolitan Airport with Rosario, Santa Fe, Mar del Plata, Reconquista, Punta del Este and Termas de Rio Hondo.

After a judicial complaint from FN deputies Rodolfo Tilhadi and Juan Cabande, in 2018 Federal Judge Sergio Torres Raised because there is no crime of two parties that are divided into it The judicial case in which seven aviation-related incidents are being investigated. In the case, in addition to Macri, then-Deputy Chief of Staff Mario Quintana was indicted for his alleged ties to FlyBundy, which – like Avian – obtained airlines from the government. The judge closed the part of the investigation related to Avianca due to the lack of a crime.

At the time, the company was running a huge financial shortfall that came from the Synergy group on which it depends. As mentioned earlier, although it operates under the Avianca name, it has not been dependent on the Colombian group Avianca Holdings. Synergy Group filed for bankruptcy in December 2018 with debts of $260 million.

Thus, he has asked the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC) for permission to boycott his regular domestic flights for 90 days, based on demand on his need to begin the process of restructuring his regular plan and business model.

but nevertheless, June 2019 saw the end of Avian Lineas Aereas that never flew again and led to a resounding failure of the country’s airline. Avianca Holdings again indicated that the regional airline was not part of the group and that its relationship was limited to the license to use the “Avianca” trademark. Additionally, the group reported at the time that the international routes it had maintained between Lima and Bogota with Buenos Aires would still operate.

Before the pandemic, the Colombian airline had two flights per day from Bogota to Buenos Aires. With the new interest, it is seeking 7 weekly flights that will connect three Colombian cities with two Argentine cities.

Another Colombian company that has expressed interest in flying to Argentina is Viva Airlines. How did you already inform InfobaeAnd The low-cost airline will list a route between Medellin and Buenos Aires from 2022. But for this purpose, it will seek to add 7 weekly flights from the same departure point to Córdoba and, like Avianca, has requested flights between Bogota and Buenos Aires.

Ricardo SosaThe Executive Secretary of the National Institute for the Promotion of Tourism (INPROTUR), the Executive Secretary of the National Institute for the Promotion of Tourism (INPROTUR), said that “these requests from Avianca and Viva are the result of the management carried out by INPROTUR in Colombia, in June, when we participated in the Anato Fair and held meetings with representatives of these airlines who proposed these initiatives on Specifically,” he also added, “This first step formally confirms the interest shown by the airlines and we must remember that these guidelines are those of our Minister at the right time.” Matthias LammensTo cooperate in increasing the arrival of foreign tourists in the future.

Both companies will have to wait until August 26 when the next public hearing for Colombian Civil Aeronautics will take place, which is responsible for enabling these requests or not. In the event of a positive result, they must submit their applications to ANAC in Argentina in order to construct the desired roads.

These situations, along with other signs of a revitalization of the air, appear to be the first results of a world gradually abandoning the crises caused by the pandemic. Tourism needs international planes operating in the country to start recovery after the worst crisis in its history.

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