The new parking platform raises to 22 the number of aircraft that can be attended to simultaneously at the international airport in San Salvador.
Elsalvador.com reports that "...The work represents the first expansion project with a direct impact on customer service for passenger aircraft at San Salvador International Airport in the last 18 years and will be crucial in improving its operational capacity."
The private sector is urging the government to define and execute financing once and for all for the expansion works of San Salvador's airport, which already operates at "200% of its capacity."
Avianca representatives say the current capacity of Monsignor Romero airport has already been far exceeded and the terminal needs to be expanded in order to improve passenger services and increase air operations.
Although the master plan is ready, changes in the Autonomous Executive Port Commission and other factors have delayed, again, the modernization of the international airport in El Salvador.
Roberto Kriete, co-founder and member of the board of Avianca Holdings told Laprensagrafica.com that "... 'the airport is an issue that has a very large financial impact nationally and it is a topic that unfortunately when there are changes of government and even more so changes in leadership at the CEPA (the modernization process) there is a delay of at least six months while it is all reviewed ...There are obvious needs for the expansion of the airport terminal, and (it is obvious) that the process of modernization should be sped up.'"
The Salvadoran Civil Aviation Authority has reported that Volaris is arranging for permission to operate a flight from Mexico to Ilopango airport, in the department of San Salvador.
The airline Volaris, owned by Avianca and the siblings Roberto and Maria Cristina Kriete, has requested permission to fly between Mexico and Ilopango Air Terminal, in the department of San Salvador.
The Superintendency of Competition could set minimum and maximum transient prices for air tickets, in the national interest or because of public need.
The initiative a proposal by the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) to the Salvadoran Congress to amendment Article 22 of the Civil Aviation Act so that the Superintendency of Competition (SC) can set those rates.
TACA’s CEO remarked that the company has postponed investments because the airport lacks the required infrastructure.
In a press conference, Roberto Kriete said he was ‘frustrated’ by not being able to install a flight connections hub in the Costa Rican airport.
“Kriete also complained for the lack of boarding gates for planes and jetways, long lines at migration services, and the delays caused to the company’s flights”.
As part of the negotiation process, Avianca acquired 10% of Taca Holdings Group.
The stock purchase is due to accounting and fiscal issues, reported TACA's President Roberto Kriete and Avianca's CEO Fabio Villegas.
"The alliance will require various steps. The first one is the regulatory process, which needs to be approved in El Salvador, United States, Colombia and other countries.
The holding company comprising Avianca and Taca was fiscally registered in Bahamas.
Germán Efromovich, president of Grupo Sinergy, remarked that "Bahamas is the accounting registration of the holding, because it is favorable from a tax point of view".
"Both airlines are part of a holding of which Taca has a 33% share and Avianca 67%. Efromovich explained the proportions resulted from the respective weight of both companies in terms of financial results, assets and passenger volume", reported newspaper La Prensa Gráfica.
TACA, the international airline for today's modern traveler, revealed its new image during an event at the El Salvador International Airport.
"At TACA we are starting an integral transformation," said Roberto Kriete, President of the Board of Directors and CEO of TACA.
"We are aware of that the economic conditions that our industry is going through are complicated, however these changes that we are implementing in order to continue strengthening our airline, are a part of a long term strategy based on the knowledge of our clients' needs and our desire to fulfill them."