Avianca’s five busiest routes are all domestic services from Bogota El Dorado Airport.
Avianca CEO Frederico Pedreira said the Colombian domestic market continues to show strong growth, with a high number of new passengers providing optimism for future expansion.
The Colombian airline expects to carry 19.3 million domestic passengers in 2024, which would be up 20% year-over-year and 32% above 2019 levels. Citing surveys conducted by the carrier, Pedreira noted increasing numbers of Colombians are traveling by air, boosting domestic demand.
According to CAPA – Centre for Aviation data, 58% of Avianca’s offered seats are in the domestic market, while 42% are international, with the U.S. the top market served.
The emphasis on flying within Colombia is “working because 14% of domestic passengers who traveled with us this year are telling us that this is the first time that they flew on an airplane,” Pedreira said recently at the airline’s year-end press conference in Bogota. “We were very surprised by this figure. This is evidence that we are able to offer a product that is flexible at competitive prices, and that those who hadn’t had the opportunity to travel with Avianca are doing so now. None of this would be possible without a solid operation.”
The airline has benefited from the 2023 demise of Colombian LCCs Viva and Ultra Air, which left holes in domestic connectivity.
But Pedreira also points to the company's leaner, restructured business model following the airline’s emergence in late 2021 from an 18-month Chapter 11 process in U.S. court, which he said allows the carrier to offer domestic passengers affordable fares. In particular, he added, domestic passengers are attracted to a basic economy fare tier that does not include a carry-on bag. Domestic basic economy passengers are allowed to bring a small backpack, purse, diaper bag or laptop bag, but have to move to a higher fare tier to bring a carry-on bag up to 10 kg.
Pedreira said nearly 70% of Avianca’s domestic passengers do not bring carry-on bags. “What this means is that the domestic passengers in Colombia are understanding our product,” he said. “If they're going to travel from Bogota to Medellin, they don't need to buy the option including a 10 kg carry-on bag ... Here in Colombia, many passengers on domestic flights say they don't need to take any more than a personal item. It has worked very well. So the takeaway is that we continue investing in Colombia.”
According to CAPA data, Avianca’s five busiest routes are all domestic services from Bogota El Dorado Airport (BOG), led by BOG-Medellin. BOG domestic routes also cracking Avianca’s top five include Cali, Cartagena, Santa Maria and Barranquilla.
“We're going to be focusing on price,” Pedreira said. “We continue believing that having a cost-efficient operation to ensure competitive tickets is key to our business, and this has been shown by those passengers who are traveling for the first time.”
He noted higher fare categories are offered for those passengers wanting more premium services, but domestic passengers are largely looking for the lowest fares.
The two newest Avianca domestic routes launched earlier this month when service started from BOG to both Arauca (4X-weekly) and Quibdo (3X-weekly). Both routes are being flown with Airbus A320 aircraft configured to carry 180 passengers.
The new services bring to 40 the number of domestic routes the airline operates.
"The growth of regional [domestic] connectivity is key to the country's economic and tourism development,” said Sergio París, Colombia’s director of civil aeronautics.
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