In this context, Travel2latam spoke with Rolando Damas, Sales Director for North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe at Avianca.
What's new in terms of fleet, destinations and projects?
2023 was a spectacular year for us. We were recognised by Cirium as the most punctual airline in the world, which is obviously an impressive source of pride for us. In addition, we transported more than 32 million passengers, which was a record year for us. This year we are going to break that record again, because we are going to exceed 32.2 million.
We have 140 aircraft in the fleet and we also have nine additional aircraft dedicated to cargo. We have a mixed fleet of white bodies of 787s, which are the long-haul ones, and the 320s, which are the ones we use for short and medium-haul flights, mainly in the Americas.
Speaking of routes, the truth is that we have done very well. In 2024 we have started more than 20 new routes. For example, Montreal-Bogotá, Chicago-Bogotá or Bogotá-Paris, which started in July, just before the Olympics, so it was very well received.
We have seasonal routes that we have launched, such as New York-San Pedro Sula and Las Vegas-San Salvador. The interesting thing about Avianca is that at the end of the day we have two hubs. The main hub is Bogotá and the second is San Salvador, but we also have connectivity to Peru, Colombia and Ecuador from San Salvador.
Bogotá connects the Southern Cone in general; Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and obviously Ecuador. And from San Salvador you have all of Central America. And additionally there are three main countries in South America that we connect from San Salvador; Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.
What routes do you have in North America?
We already have 13 destinations or origins in North America, including Toronto and Montreal, which we have in Canada. We are starting a direct Chicago-Bogotá service. In addition to all the cities we operate, we are adding new capacity to different destinations. Today, 40% of our flights are point-to-point. So the Bogotá and San Salvador hubs are important, but after the transformation we had in 2022, we are dedicated to putting point-to-point flights, without going through the hub.
What connectivity does Miami have?
We have three direct flights daily from Miami to Managua as a point-to-point service. Then we have a separate one that goes from Miami to El Salvador. The rest are to Colombia, Miami to Medellin, Miami to Cartagena, Miami to Cali, Miami to Barranquilla, and Miami to Bogota. Miami is obviously a relevant market for us. The largest markets from this city are Colombia and Nicaragua.
What is the situation for corporate passengers?
During the 2022 transformation, we were eliminating the executive cabin on the 320 short- and medium-range aircraft. We always had them on the 787s, and this year we started to reintroduce the executive cabin. We started with 11 routes leaving Bogotá, we added executive cabins to the 320s and it went so well that we are adding 23 more routes that will become effective on December 1. So we are going to have 34 operating with business class, in the first three rows, with 12 seats. It is a very attractive product and the demand is there, the corporate sector wants to be more comfortable, and that is why we are adding other routes.
How do you rank in the airline punctuality rankings?
We are at the top, we don't know how we are going to finish the year but we are in the top 3. The ranking comes out every month and we are always among the first.
From a passenger perspective, have you implemented anything new?
Apart from business class, loyalty programs are important to us. This year we have already reached 15 million LifeMiles members, which is a tremendous achievement because at the end of the day we have a lot of activity, not only with the members who travel with us, but also with the collection cards. For example, in May of this year we launched the agreement with American Express for the first time in the United States.
For many years we have been trying to have a relevant bank and we have succeeded. We are very happy.
The good thing about LifeMiles is that we are Star Alliance, so United, Lufthansa and all those airlines that have customers with points, can use them with LifeMiles or vice versa.
What do you expect for 2025?
I think we will continue to fight and grow. We have an order for more than 100 Airbus 320 Neos that will continue to arrive. The company changed the model and 40% is point to point, so we are always looking for those niche markets.
We are considering different alternatives on where we can put more capacity, and obviously if things don't go well, remove it, because it's about profitability. Since we made the transformation in 2022, we have had a record year in 2023, and today with all the capacity we have, we hope to continue on that line of growth.