Avianca, United Airlines and Copa Airlines, signed a trade agreement that will allow them to agree flight routes in the American continent.
To ensure the commercial agreement reached on November 30th becomes effective, the three airlines plan to apply for regulatory approval and a complementary antitrust immunity (ATI) subsidy in the coming weeks from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and authorities in 19 Latin American countries.
Transporte Aéreos Guatemaltecos has started processing permits to fly to Costa Rica, and according to the authorities, it could take up to six months to complete the process and be able to operate.
Without providing details of the types of routes that the airline Transportes Aéreos Guatemaltecos (TAG) intends to operate, Costa Rican authorities stated that the approval process is in phase 2.
An announced has been made of a definitive deprogramming of the weekly flight that operated between Buenos Aires and Caracas, citing operational reasons.
Already in August the airline operating under the Argentine flag had announced the suspension of the tickets sales for this flight.Now the company has announced the deprogramming of its weekly flight in definitive form.
Dismissing the proposals by the Panamanian company Copa and that of Delta, Avianca Holdings has announced it will start the process of finalizing a strategic and commercial alliance with United Airlines.
The airline of Salvadoran origin will suspend its operations for three months to resolve "financial problems" and a carry out restructuring.
The airline that in late 2014 announced flights between the capitals of Central America for $199 for two people, is now facing financial problems that has forced it to close its operations for at least three months in order to restructure the company.This was confirmed to Elsalvador.com by the principal adviser to the group ofcompanies Alba and by Vuelos Económicos Centroamericanos (CASI), José Luis Merino.
The Panamanian airline has presented a financial offer in cash and stock to acquire the second largest airline in the region after Latam Airlines.
The New York Times reported that the offer made by Copa Airlines consists of "... a merger that would value Avianca at more than $2 billion, or a 150 percent premium to its share price last week. [November 29]".
The beginning of operations of several regional airlines in the moderately priced sector is auspicious for trade, and in particular tourism.
EDITORIAL
The launch in San Jose this week of the ultra low cost airline Volaris Costa Rica, with a presence in Mexico, the United States and Central America, who will begin operating next month with a San Jose, Costa Rica -Guatemala City (Guatemala) route, confirms how activated the business of commercial aviation in Central America has become.
In five years the airline market in Central America has transformed from being a market dominated by two major airlines, to one with new entrants, lower prices and greater connectivity.
The arrival of so called "low cost" airlines to the region has resulted in a progressive reduction in the prices of tickets to fly between Central American countries. Between 2011 and 2014 the average cost without taxes for travelling between Costa Rica and El Salvador ranged from between $400 and $500, while in 2015 it costs $391.
From December 1 the new airline Wingo will be operating low cost regional flights.
A subsidiary of Copa Holdings, Wingo, has announced the start of operations and will start with flights on December 1, offering a daily frequency to Panama on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and from Guatemala, one daily on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, according to information posted on its website.
In countries where airlines work closely with airport authorities and governments, the sector's development has been remarkable, as is the case of Panama.
Air connectivity in Latin America and the Caribbean is expensive: there are 130 different taxes on airfare, costs which are charged to companies, individual travelers, the aviation industry and tourism in general.
Four months after the scheduled date, the German airline Lufthansa has made the first of five flights a week which it will operate from the airport of Tocumen.
From a statement issued by Lufthansa:
Lufthansa commenced its new non-stop service between Frankfurt and Panama City today. Flight LH 484 departed from Frankfurt (FRA) at 10:15 local time, and is scheduled to arrive at the Aeropuerto Internacional de Tocumen in Panama City (PTY) at 16:40 local time this afternoon. Eastbound flight LH 485 will leave Panama City at 18:45 local time this evening, and is due to land in Frankfurt at 11:35 local time tomorrow (3 March). Lufthansa will be operating a five-times-weekly service on the new route all year round.
VivaLatinoamérica has announced that it will base its operations in the country in order to cater for flights from Central America in 2016.
Viva Group, consisting of the Grupo IAMSA and Irelandia Aviation, revealed that it will base its operations center in Costa Rica for Central American flights.
According to statements given to the Mexican newspaper Excelsior, Juan Carlos Zuazua, CEO of VivaAerobus, said that after its arrival in Central America, the airline will aim to have greater connectivity between the region with Mexico and Colombia by 2017, countries where it operates with the VivaAerobus and VivaColombia brands respectively.
Growing regional air connectivity is creating new opportunities to maximize the potential of tourist destinations in Central America.
EDITORIAL
Flying from Ometepe Island in Nicaragua, to San Jose, Costa Rica, and then landing in Bocas del Toro in Panama, was impossible a few years ago. Increasing air connectivity among the most important tourist spots in each of the Central American countries provides a wide window of opportunity for the tourism sector in the region.
The airline Viva founded with Colombian capital has announced it is requesting permission to fly to Costa Rica and then Central America, through the airline Viva CAN.
The Colombia company Viva, part of the group Viva Aerobus in Mexico and Colombia, expects to operate two aircraft on its flights in the region and transport 250 thousand passengers in the first year of operations in the region.