Summa Alliance (2002 - 2004)
After a rigorous and complex process, the worldwide aviation industry came through after the September 11 attacks. Avianca, the regional carrier SAM Colombia and its major rival ACES Colombia, joined efforts to create Alianza Summa, which began merged operations on May 20, 2002. These three airlines decided to strategically merge their strengths, to offer a more efficient service, with concerns to quality, quantity, security and competition in a new struggling marketplace. However, adverse circumstances within the industry and markets, forced the alliance to disband and airline shareholders decided to initiate the liquidation of Alianza Summa in November 2003, to focus in strengthening the Avianca trademark. These decisions resulted in the liquidation of ACES Colombia altogether and the acquisition of SAM Colombia, as a regional carrier under Avianca's system.
American Continent Airways (2004 - Present)
On December 10, 2004, Avianca concluded one of the most important and ambitious reorganization processes, undertaken after filing for 'Chapter 11' bankruptcy protection, by obtaining confirmation of its reorganization plan, which was financially backed by the Brazilian consortium, OceanAir/Synergy Group and the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, allowing the airline to obtain funds for US$63 million dollars, in the 13 months following withdrawal from C-11.
The plan, with the support of 99.8% of the voting creditors and which obtained the majority endorsement of the Creditors Committee, will enter into force once the Company emerges from bankruptcy. In accordance with United States laws, the administration has the trust obligation to consider any other investment proposal until the final term expiration stipulated. Notwithstanding, such an offer, besides being better than the one that has been approved by Avianca's domestic and international creditors and confirmed today by the Court, must be final, i.e. fully financed and backed with non-reimbursable cash deposits or equivalent mechanisms. Likewise, such proposal must be binding. As known, the only investment that complies with these requirements is that of OceanAir/Synergy Group and the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, which already makes part of the reorganization plan already voted favorably, by the creditors and confirmed by the Judge.
Synergy Group is an evidenced, credit-worthy Brazilian entrepreneurial conglomerate. Its strength lies in the oil sector, building, installing and offering maintenance to offshore oil platforms; it is currently carrying out exploration work in Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia. Other businesses include: the extraction of gas in the United States, naval construction, telephony infrastructure, hydroelectric power plants, communications and a hydrocarbons marine exploration company, which extends throughout nine countries, with more than 5,000 workers.
It also owns and operates OceanAir, which services around thirty cities in Brazil, as well as VIP, an airline in Ecuador, Taxi Aero, a charter airline in Brazil and the recently acquired Wayra, in Peru, as well as Turb Serv, dedicated to the maintenance of turbines.
In 2009, OceanAir and VIP Ecuador will be rebranded as Avianca, to consolidate as one airline, following the ambitious expansion plans of the airline.
Avianca-TACA alliance (since 2009)
The merger of Colombia's Avianca and Salvadoran-based TACA is the latest sign that consolidation in the Latin American airline sector is picking up.
The newly formed Holdco - which will be controlled jointly by Avianca and TACA - instantly becomes one of the region's largest airlines after Brazil's TAM and GOL , with 129 aircraft and flights to more than 100 destinations.
In November 2009, the airline's Chief Executive Fabio Villegas announced that the airline is looking to replace its Fokker 50 and Fokker 100 aircraft with newer aircraft of 100 seats or less. The 10 Fokker 50s and 15 Fokker 100s are currently operated on flights shorter than one-and-a-half hours. Aircraft manufacured by Brazil's Embraer and Canada's Bombardier Aerospace are being considered for the replacement. [3]
Subsidiaries
Avianca and its subsidiaries.
Former subsidiaries
Shareholding
Destinations
Avianca's hub is in Bogotá at El Dorado International Airport. Its focus cities are: Medellín, Santiago de Cali, Cartagena and Barranquilla, as well as Miami, where Avianca is the largest foreign carrier by number of passengers.
Avianca's expansion during 2008 has added three new international destinations, with new flights to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Washington, D.C. and San José, Costa Rica, as well as new frequencies to Curaçao, Valencia, Venezuela, Santiago, Chile, New York, Madrid and Barcelona, that help strengthen the hub in Bogota.
Avianca has also been granted service to Orlando, Florida, but the airline has not yet announced a start date for that service.
Avianca has recently gotten slots at London's Heathrow airport. This means that the airline has plans to resume services to London in the next coming months, depending on the delivery of the next few A330s.
The airline has also received autorization from colombian authorities to fly to Guatemala and El Salvador via Costa Rica.
Subsidiaries
Codeshare agreements
Presently, Avianca has codeshare agreements with:
Avianca VIP Lounges
Avianca has VIP lounges at the following airports:
Colombia
Ecuador
Avianca Tours
Avianca Tours is Avianca's commercial division specializing in the design and offer of tour packages, for destinations in Colombia and abroad.
Avianca Tours offers packages to:
Fleet
The Avianca fleet consists of the following aircraft:
Source: CH-Aviation Last update: March 8, 2010
Subsidiaries
Source: CH-Aviation Last update: October 10, 2009
Retired
Awards and nominations
Awards
Nominations
2007
2006
2005
Incidents and accidents
The airline suffered a few incidents during the 1980s and early 1990s. Many were caused by warring gangs, under the assumption that a member of a rival gang was aboard. The deadliest of those incidents was Avianca Flight 203, which was bombed in 1989, following orders from Pablo Escobar to kill presidential candidate César Gaviria Trujillo. In the aftermath, it was found that Gaviria had not boarded the aircraft. Only one successful bombing has occurred in the airline's history, while most other gang related incidents were related to hijackings or shootings on board. In most hijackings, all passengers and crew members, unaffiliated with the hijacker's cause, were immediately released.
On 26 April 1990, M-19 presidential candidate Carlos Pizarro was gunned down during a domestic Avianca flight.[2][3]
Other incidents include:
- On 21 January 1960, Avianca Flight 671, a Lockheed L-1049E, crashed and burned on landing at Montego Bay International Airport in Jamaica, killing 37 aboard.[4]
- On 15 January 1966, Avianca Flight 4 crashed shortly after takeoff from Cartagena-Crespo. The cause was determined as maintenance problems, possibly compounded by pilot error.
- Avianca Flight 011, a Boeing 747-200 that crashed onto a mountain, just short of landing at Barajas Airport in Madrid, in November 1983 had 181 fatalities. The cause was determined to be pilot error.
- Avianca Flight 410, a Boeing 727 domestic flight, which crashed into low mountains near Cúcuta - Norte de Santander, Colombia, after take-off on 17 of March 1988, killing all 143 on board. It was determined that pilot error was also the cause of this crash, in a situation similar to that of Avianca Flight 011, five years earlier.
- On 25 January 1990, Avianca Flight 52, a Boeing 707-320 jet en route from Bogotá to New York City via Medellín, crashed in the town of Cove Neck, New York, after running out of fuel while in a holding pattern, awaiting landing at New York's Kennedy Airport, killing 73 of the 158 people aboard. There was much controversy surrounding this crash.
Private bus services in the United States
In the United States, Avianca operates a private bus service from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Union City and Elizabeth in New Jersey.[5]
Popular culture
References
External links
Avianca
Subsidiaries
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Asia-Pacific regional office |
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Latin America and the Caribbean regional office |
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Middle East and North Africa regional office |
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North America regional office |
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Russia and the CIS regional office |
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