On Saturday, the Colombian carrier Avianca announced it might not follow up with the merger process with Viva Air, which put an end to the twelve-year history of the ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC). Viva Air had its first flight on May 25, 2012. The airline was originally a part of the Irelandia Aviation Group, a developer of ULCCs led by Declan Ryan, one among the founders of Ryanair.
The start
A gaggle of Irish businessmen first announced their intentions to launch an ultra-low-cost carrier in Colombia in 2011. By that point, the Colombian market was controlled by Avianca, the legacy company that emerged from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy process in 2004. The journalist Rupert Stebbings wrote in his book that the consensus was that the brand new ULCC wouldn’t last a 12 months within the Colombian market. How could it last when some carriers –Sam and Aces– had failed already and others –Aires and Aerorepública, now often known as LATAM Colombia and Wingo– were struggling to maintain up.
The airline’s former Chief Executive Officer, Félix Antelo, spoke with Easy Flying in the course of the 2021 Future Flying Forum. During a keynote interview, he explained that Medellín has a privileged geographical position within the Americas.
The airline even received authorization to launch many more international routes that never got here to be. Some destinations that might have received Viva’s yellow-painted fleet include Recent York, Houston, and San Juan in america; Santo Domingo, Aruba, and Guatemala City in Latin America & the Caribbean, and more.
At its height, Viva Air Colombia had a fleet of 24 aircraft in 2021, including ten Airbus A320neo and 14 A320ceos. Viva Air Peru, the smaller brother, had a fleet of six Airbus A320ceos in 2020, in accordance with data from ch-aviation. The corporate had an order for 50 recent aircraft, which, in 2018, were expected to be received by 2023. A few of these jets did find their technique to the Colombian carrier, while others have already found recent owners (reminiscent of easyJet).
What went flawed?
Through the keynote chat with Félix Antelo in 2021, Viva’s CEO said he believed the low-cost model would come out stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic within the region. To some extent, he was right. Volaris and Viva Aerobus in Mexico have grown their traffic figures by double-digits within the last two years. JetSMART opened a brand new low-cost branch in Peru and is currently within the means of launching a brand new branch in Colombia. Avianca emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a low-cost operator. Arajet began operations from Santo Domingo within the Dominican Republic. Sky Airline, JetSMART, Volaris, and Viva Aerobus have a combined unfilled order for 259 Airbus narrowbody jets. Still, Viva Air failed.
Photo: Markus Mainka/Shutterstock.
In August 2022, Viva Air and Avianca requested merger authorization from the Colombian authority. They said the move was made to rescue Viva Air, safeguard connectivity, and protect the air transport service. The method hit significant delays, blocking from other corporations (including Ultra Air, one other airline that ceased operations in 2023), and uncertainty. This led Viva Air to halt operations in February. It was a short lived solution while the merger process went on. Viva’s management said that the one way it could survive was through the mixing plans with Avianca.
On Saturday, Avianca said it might not undergo with its plans to merge with Viva Air. Based on the corporate, the conditions set by the authorities required Avianca to assume obligations, routes, and commitments of service levels and costs that don’t coincide with the remaining capacities of Viva. Adrian Neuhauser, President and CEO of Avianca said,
History finds a technique to repeat itself. In 2023, Viva Air –like many other failed Colombian carriers– announced its bankruptcy. It was unable to proceed flying unless its merger process with Avianca was approved. Colombia’s civil aviation authority did approve the merger, but after an intensive review, a post-Chapter 11 Avianca decided to not undergo with it. The ultimate nail on Viva’s coffin was put, and the ultra-low-cost carrier, an organization that attempted to fly high, turn Medellín right into a continental hub, and convey the business model to the region, was laid to rest permanently.
The failure of Viva Air will undoubtedly be a cause for research in the approaching years. Perhaps Viva Air attempted to expand
too aggressively in a post-pandemic environment. Possibly it was the shortage of presidency support within the region, plus rising costs and volatile domestic currencies. Or it might be a sum of many causes resulting in the failure of this airline.
Colombia now moves forward with two fewer airlines after the failure of Viva Air and Ultra Air. JetSMART Colombia is coming and will launch operations this 12 months. The country’s civil aviation crisis has forced international entities, reminiscent of IATA, to induce the authorities to take motion.
Did you ever fly onboard a Viva Air flight? How was the experience? Tell us within the comments below.