Avianca will renew its fleet: more than 100 aircraft will arrive to open new routes – Travel – Life

Frederico Pedreira assumes position as President and CEO of Avianca From January 2024. The executive joined the company in 2021 as Director of Operations and in his role he, together with his team, managed to transform the operating indicators of the airline. Also – Airline Reviews – This was a fundamental part of Avianca’s transition to a new business model.

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Pedreira was replaced adrian neuhauserJoe is now CEO of Grupo Abra, the holding company of Latin American aviation companies that owns Avianca.

In conversation with EL TIEMPO, the new CEO of the airline says that his arrival in the new post was already planned to continue “We focused on completing the change we started.”

That is why – he assures – that during the two months he has been in this new role, he has not faced any challenges, although, he is emphatic in saying that the airline’s “transformation” has worked, Although Believes there is still way to go,

He also talks about Avianca’s plans for 2024 and the coming years, as well as the arrival of Emirates in Colombia.

What challenges did you face when you took over as CEO of Avianca?

I didn’t face any challenges because it was very much planned. I have been at Avianca as Director of Operations since 2021 and this transition was planned for a long time. Then, in mid-2023, I took over the position of Deputy Director General. So it was no surprise to me, but the goal is to stay focused on completing the change we started. When I look to 2023, I feel like the change worked. We still have 20-30 percent work left, but last year we achieved a historic record for Avianca, carrying more than 32 million passengers, and we were also the most punctual network in the world. Furthermore, last year we reached a level of 1.5 suitcase problems per 1,000 passengers, while the world average is 7.

What do you mean it takes 20-30 percent to complete the change?

It’s a mix of projects that are longer, that we started a few years ago and that will continue until they’re finished. For example, the new configuration of our 787 and new seats. The first aircraft has already been configured and is awaiting certification to fly. And, well, we need 15 more planes to reconfigure. the second thing is this We are investing in technology and this year we will continue to invest in our website and applications, In addition, we are going to introduce business (class) on A320 airplanes (they fly to Colombia and the US) in international flights, which we will do in the middle of this year. And this is an innovation that we will implement, first of all, on the longest routes because passengers are asking us for it.

For example, considering the change in airplane seats, have people already understood Avianca’s change?

Yes, I think they have understood it. And this is reflected in the fact that more than a third of our passengers are buying XS (Avianca’s lowest fare and which has since changed its name to Basic). Now, our job is to continue to provide transparent information to the user so that they know what they are purchasing. We want passengers to shop happily and know that if they are purchasing a ticket, they understand that, for example, they do not have the right to take a suitcase in the cabin. Now, on February 1st we change our rate family. We had five and we went to four: Basic, Classic, Flex and Business.

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Let’s talk about new routes. Aerocivil has already given them approval to offer Bogota-Paris. What is that process about?

yes but It must be kept in mind that you must have aircraft to open these routes. We would like Paris. This is a process that has not been approved yet. As you know, there are bilateral issues between countries. So, on this side we got approval, but we still need that part from France in which they say that they agree that the airline is going to take over those places. This is something that can happen very fast or very long.

What frequencies did you request for this route?

We are considering several options, but if they give us the option, we can start with four or five frequencies a week. in the same way We are moving forward this year with secondary cities in Havana (Cuba), Montreal (Canada) and the United States. We want to open Quito-Caracas and strengthen our operations towards Spain and Argentina.

Will the aircraft fleet be renewed for 2024 and the coming years?

We have an agreement with Airbus that will start in 2025, which we already announced and which is to renew our fleet with 80 aircraft, then we reached 88 and at the end of last year we signed on 15 more aircraft Signed. so, Starting from 2025 to 2031, we will have 103 aircraft. It will be a mix of renewal and growth of our fleet. Now, in 2024, there are seven A320s, three 787s and three freighter aircraft.

How much will the investment be?

That’s a lot of money, but to give you an idea, last year we invested $500 million.

What does Avianca think about Emirates’ arrival in Colombia offering the Bogota-Miami-Dubai route?

These are bilateral agreements, that I let you fly to my country and the airlines of my country can fly there. For example, competition is tough in the United States because you have a lot of American (airlines) flying there, but we can also fly there. So it’s the same. And I am not speaking as Avianca, but as a sector. The agreement was signed with Emirates, but what interest is the region of Colombia in flying to the UAE? What interest does Latam, Avianca, Click, Satana have in flying there? What benefits can the sector get? Nothing (…) The thing is not only that they fly from Emirates from the United States to Bogotá, the thing is that they fly from Emirates to Miami and from Miami to Bogotá. That is, we are talking about an airline with which European and American airlines have already been competing for years, because these are the airlines that are subsidized by the government.

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