El Salvador's Vuelos Económicos Centroamericanos and Costa Rica's Ticos Air and Ticas Airlines are in various stages of preparation and registration to offer flights in the region.
Vuelos Económicos Centroamericanos (CASI) reported that it has leased two Airbus aircraft and will invest nearly $100 million in order to start operations in March 2014. The company is interested in creating a market in the low-cost segment and not competing with airlines such as Avianca and Copa, said Edgar Hasbun, CEO of the company.
From 10 to 16 October there will be a meeting of wholesalers and tour operators to promote the country's tourist destinations.
The event will be held at the Hotel Barceló Guatemala City. So far 1,600 appointments have been arranged , and projections are that deals will be closed worth $4 million, according to the Guatemalan Institute of Tourism (INGUAT).
The airline has announced that from November 1 it will run four weekly flights between Guatemala City and Bogota.
"We are maximizing efficiencies in the operation of our network of routes so as to better serve our customers in the Americas and Europe," said Estuardo Ortiz, executive vice president of Avianca.
Although the route will run four times a week, it could later be extended to an every day service.
In terms of how modern the infrastructure for air transport is, Panama leads the field, followed distantly by Costa Rica.
"None of the airports in Central America comes close to knocking Tocumen off its number one position in the ranking by Skytrax, nor the ranking by the World Economic Forum. The latter measures the quality of infrastructure for air travel in the country , where Panama climbed from 38th place in 2007 to last year reach the prestigious position of sixth place," reported Elsalvador.com.
The infrastructure in most airports in Central America can not cover the increase in the number of air passengers transiting in the region.
In the region, traffic has increased by almost 80% over the last ten years going from 95 million to 170 million passengers. "Today, 30% of Latin American flights take off or land at congested airports, which constitutes one of the main difficulties in the development of the airline industry," noted an article in Eleconomista.net.
The airline said that from July 1 they will start operating a direct daily flight between Los Angeles and San Jose, Costa Rica.
This new route will complement the two daily services currently offered by Delta from San Jose to Atlanta and will be operated by a Boeing 757-200 with capacity for 180 passengers, with 24 seats in first class and 156 in economy class.
The airline has announced the purchase of 15 ATR 72-600 aircraft and purchase rights for another 15, with an investment of $700 million.
The new aircraft, which will be built starting in June 2013, will be designed to cover routes inside of Colombia and Central America.
The President AviancaTaca, Fabio Villegas said in an article in Terra.com, "With the addition of the new ATR 72-600 aircraft we are reaffirming our commitment to the connectivity of regions within strategic markets such as Colombia and Central America. The equipment chosen will allow us to increase our capacity in short-range routes and improve coverage. "
From 2013, the Avianca brand name will be the trademark for Avianca and Tampa Cargo SA, Aerolineas Galapagos SA Aerogal, and the airlines which belong to TACA Group.
A statement by Avianca Taca reads:
AVIANCA, single brand for integrated airlines of AviancaTaca Holding SA
The launch of a single unifying brand will be carried out during the first half of 2013.
Thank you Interjet and Aeromexico for making it possible to buy a ticket without feeling like you have been robbed at gunpoint.
As was the case in other Central American countries with the opening of flights operated by companies outside of the isthmus, in Costa Rica, airline ticket prices for flights from San Jose to Mexico City have fallen by 60%.
After three years of announcements about the move, Star alliance has confirmed the formal admission of Copa Airlines and AviancaTaca into the global airline network.
An article in Laprensagrafica.com reports that "The alleged integration of Star Alliance into Copa was first mentioned in 2009, especially since Continental, with whom Copa has codesharing alliances, announced it would join Star Alliance and leave SkyTeam, the other major airline alliance in operation today. Although Copa is no longer part of SkyTeam, it has not yet officially joined Star Alliance. "
The route San Jose - Monterrey, Mexico will open in June, meanwhile the formalities are being completed to open frequencies to Montreal in Canada and Brasilia, the capital of Brazil.
TACA Airlines introduces a new flight to Monterrey, Mexico, served through the airline’s Connections Center in San Jose, effective from June 1st. Flights will operate three times a week with Embraer 190 aircraft with capacity for 96 passengers and convenient connections to and from Bogota, Medellin, Panama, Caracas, Guayaquil, Guatemala, San Salvador, Managua, Lima, and Lima’s hub of Porto Alegre , among others.
The airlines have agreed to implement code-shared flights.
Taca-Avianca and Aeromexico have agreed to operate a code share which will benefit the Colombia-Mexico market from the first half of 2012, and for the second half of the year, Taca and Aeromexico will code-share, and this will include routes in the Central American-Mexico market as well as South American-Mexico routes, thus giving passengers a greater choice of service, more frequent flights and more travel alternatives in the region.
Net income for the group has grown by over 100%, reaching the figure of $101.5 million in 2011, $51.5 million more than in 2010.
Avianca-TACA, one of the largest airlines in Latin America, reported a growth of 17.8 percent on its passenger traffic in 2011, thanks to the strong performance of its domestic operations in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, reported Reuters and Prensa.com.
AviancaTaca Holding SA, has signed a purchase agreement with the European manufacturing firm Airbus for 51 eco-efficient aircraft.
A press release from AviancaTaca states that the purchase order, is for 33 A320neo type aircraft and is the largest order of this model in Latin America.
The statement goes on to say that “AviancaTaca Holding SA, a company which controls Avianca, Taca and AeroGal, among others, signed the agreement with the European manufacturer Airbus for the outright purchase of 51 eco-efficient aircraft, including 33 A320neo aircraft and 18 from the A320 family. This Memorandum of Understanding contract was signed during the Paris Air Show in June 2011 and is to date the largest order of A320neo in the region.
The airlines announced the signing of the agreement which will contribute to increased flight options for passengers in the Southern Cone.
In the first quarter of next year, Sky Airlines will sign a similar agreement with the airline Avianca, indicated Fabio Villegas, CEO of Avianca, Taca, Stuart Ortiz, COO of Avianca-Taca and Jürgen Paulmann, CEO of Sky Airlines, in a press conference.