Summary
- JetSMART thrived in the course of the pandemic while other airlines in South America struggled to survive.
- The airline successfully expanded into Peru and Colombia, filling a niche left by collapsed carriers.
- JetSMART plans to deal with future growth in Colombia, Argentina, Peru, and Chile after overcoming pandemic challenges.
JetSMART is far like all other ultra-low-cost carrier within the South American market, considered one of many who has emerged prior to now twenty years and has thrived off of serving high-demand leisure routes across the continent. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, nonetheless, JetSMART, very similar to other budget airlines, was in dire financial straits created by the dearth of passenger volume.
In consequence, many carriers were forced to shut down or went bankrupt consequently of the hostile market that was especially damaging to personal low-cost operations. JetSMART, nonetheless, not only survived but in addition thrived on this environment and has grown rapidly for the reason that onset of COVID, entering markets across the continent.
Photo: oscargutzo | Shutterstock
Just this past week, JetSMART launched its recent operational base in Bogotá and commenced operating ultra-low-cost flights in Colombia for the primary time in over a yr. With such impressive success within the face of immense adversity, it’s difficult to know exactly how the carrier was in a position to achieve these results.
Fortunately, the carrier’s founder and CEO, Estuardo Ortiz Porras, took the time to share how he, alongside the airline’s parent company Indigo Partners, was in a position to overcome the pandemic’s challenges in an exclusive interview with Easy Flying. The airline executive was also in a position to provide some insight regarding the airline’s long-term growth strategy.
A difficult environment
Throughout 2020 and 2021, airline after airline went under in South America, a pattern of dissolution that has still continued within the years following. Prior to the pandemic, there have been seven different carriers operating within the Peruvian market, after which period that number had dwindled all the way down to just two survivors.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
In Colombia, the story was similar, with the collapse of two major carriers, Ultra Air and Viva Air, leaving an enormous void available in the market. Ultra Air ceased operations in March 2023 after just over a yr of flying, and Viva Air filed for bankruptcy in the identical month after having been in business since 2012.
The character of the South American aviation market had drastically modified in a way that worked to JetSMART’s advantage. Compared to the years before the pandemic, there have been 12 fewer airlines operating on the continent, lots of which were ultra-low-cost carriers.
![JetSMART Airbus A320neo aircraft](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/jetsmart-45-cropped-1.jpg)
32 Planes: JetSMART Becomes Latin America’s Largest Ultra-Low-Cost Airline
A period of rapid growth has cemented the airline’s position as a significant player in South America.
JetSMART’s moves
JetSMART, which had already been operating well-established networks in each Argentina and Chile on the time, set its sights on expansion into the Peruvian market within the years following the pandemic. In 2022, upon noticing the dearth of competition available in the market, the airline launched its third subsidiary, JetSMART Peru, which soon became considered one of the nation’s leading low-cost airlines. Regarding the airline’s rapid expansion into different markets, Ortiz had the next to share regarding the airline’s shift in strategy:
‘The entire strategy modified because what made sense originally, to have a singular airline and make it grow and scale after which enter other markets, had shifted. Whenever you see the map following the pandemic, you realize that the domestic markets were recovering much quicker.”
JetSMART Peru has continued to see success throughout its two years of operations and has grown to operate 4 different aircraft with a network of ten different destinations. The airline continues to be set to proceed growing its route map, with recent flights from the carrier’s Jorge Chavez International Airport (LIM) base in Lima to Quito and Guayaquil in Ecuador launching this spring.
Photo: JetSMART
Once having successfully established a foothold within the Peruvian market, JetSMART set its sights on the larger prize: the Colombian market. Because the CEO was quick to inform us, an important domestic market on the continent outside of Brazil was the Colombian one, and the airline previously avoided entering the nation resulting from the specter of high competition from other carriers.
Colombian operations
Nevertheless, the airline’s leadership team has seen a possibility for growth amid a low-cost emptiness available in the market. Just yesterday, on 14 March, the carrier launched its Colombian operation, which now stands because the fourth nation through which JetSMART is certified as an air operator.
The airline has yet to start flights inside Colombia, with the primary services from Bogotá slated to depart on 24 March. The airline began selling tickets for these flights back in January, and JetSMART’s service launch has been long-awaited. The carrier is starting to fly out of Terminal 2 out of El Dorado International Airport (BOG) in Bogotá, the previous domestic terminal. It also goals to launch flights from Medellín in the approaching years.
Photo: JetSMART
As the corporate’s leader and founder was quick to indicate, the airline’s opportunity to ascertain an enormous presence in Colombia can’t be understated. Within the interview, the CEO discussed his motivations for entering the Colombian market as follows:
“It’s only a much larger opportunity and a much larger market, but in addition very competitive, something that modified last yr. The market today doesn’t have any low-cost presence. We knew Colombia was going to vary, and we began the air operator certification (AOC) process back in October 2022.”
The chief identified that by April 2023, there have been only two airlines operating within the domestic Colombian market, neither of which was a low-cost carrier. With these opportunities in front of them, the Indigo Partners-backed carrier decided to maneuver forward.
The longer term
The corporate is now prepared to shift focus towards future expansion and can focus its attention on capitalizing on its recent strategic positions not only within the Colombian market but across Argentina, Peru, and Chile as well. The airline currently operates a fleet of over 30 aircraft, flying to 33 destinations across Latin America.
![A JetSMART aircraft in Chile](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/a-jetsmart-aircraft-in-chile-oscargutzo.jpg)
JetSMART And American Airlines Launch Codeshare Agreement
The codeshare currently includes only 4 destinations in Chile, but they may add more in the longer term.
JetSMART was undeniably in a position to play its cards right when the pandemic got here around, a part of which might be attributed to the management of successful low-cost industry titan Indigo Partners. Nevertheless, as Ortiz put it best:
You possibly can’t waste a great crisis.
The airline’s CEO commented on potential expansion in Argentina, with a brand new regulatory environment proving favorable to the carrier within the early stages. The administration of Javier Milei, who got here to office boldly defending policies of economic liberalization and a discount in regulatory control, has granted JetSMART provisional approval to fly routes it had not been in a position to before.