Grupo Viva eyes a third AOC, Colombian growth

Grupo Viva is planning to establish a third unit after Viva Air Colombia (VH, Medellín José Maria Córdova) and Viva Air Perú (VV, Lima Int’l) in a thus far undisclosed country in the region, with the expected launch date in 2022, Chief Executive Felix Antelo said during the virtual Routes Reconnected interview. “We’ve been looking at countries in Central America and South America. That is still the case, but the plans will be delayed a little bit. We are still looking at opportunities and it could be 2022. I’m talking about a third AOC for flying domestically,” Antelo said. The Panama-based holding is owned by Irelandia Aviation, which used to own a 49% stake in VivaAerobus (VB, Monterrey General Mariano Escobedo) until 2016. The Mexican LCC, despite retaining a similar name, is now a wholly-independent business venture – in Antelo’s words, “a cousin of Viva Air Colombia”. In the past, Grupo Viva has touted units in Panama or Ecuador, although it never confirmed any specific plans for its third AOC. Antelo added that the airline also had plans to grow its international network out of Colombia. Viva Air Colombia was supposedly just days away from announcing five new international routes “within the range of the A320-200N”, including one to the United States, when the spring COVID-related lockdown invalidated all of its plans for 2020. However, Antelo said that the plans had merely been delayed. “All the business plans were complete, and the permits were in place, but we obviously had to postpone them. They will happen although probably not until June or July 2021, for at least two or three of these five destinations,” Antelo said. Antelo said despite its strength in the Colombian domestic market, Viva Air Colombia was planning to add more international services going forward. He added that the carrier had already increased its total capacity to 80% of pre-COVID levels with more growth expected. Thanks in part to its growth out of its newest base at Cali airport, the airline already has more routes in Colombia than it did before the lockdown. However, the market is becoming increasingly competitive, with Chilean LCC JetSMART also eyeing a Colombian AOC. Start-up Ultra Air, which is backed by Viva Air Colombia founder and serial LCC entrepreneur William Shaw, has applied for an operator’s licence.