Charter airline will start regularly scheduled operations in Colombia as of December

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – After operating for more than 40 years in Colombia, the charter airline Sarpa announced in the last hours that it received the certificate from the Civil Aeronautics to run under commercial modality. In this way, it enters the competition in a market where companies such as Avianca, Latam, Satena, and Viva Air, among others, are already present.

“We already had experience in this industry, but since the end of 2019, Sarpa decided to take that big leap to become another player in the commercial market. […] We announce this news with the happiness of being able to contribute to the competitiveness and economic reactivation of aviation,” said Sarpa’s president, Carlos Andrés Mesa, in an interview with La República.

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The company began operations in the 1980s, offering charter flights in the American continent; as of 2003, it also began to operate under the air ambulance services. However, with the new market, they expect to put 150,000 seats in operation during the first year, to transport between 120,000 and 130,000 passengers. According to the president, ticket sales will start in mid-November, and the official process will begin in December.

“We expect to open-air ticket sales next November 15, and we have an estimated operation date between December 15 and 20 of this year. We want to positively impact the high season of that month and increase opportunities for travelers,” he said.

Initially, the certificate allows commercial flights to be carried out regularly from Medellín, at the Rionegro airport, the operations headquarters. From that point, they already have Aruba, Curaçao, and Barranquilla as destinations; however, they expect to receive soon authorization to operate on 21 domestic and international routes.

Entering the Colombian market, the company will have Embraer ERJ 145 type JET aircraft at its disposal, with a capacity for 50 seats, according to Sarpa. In addition, he indicated that investments amount to US$ 6 million, including aircraft, employees, hangars, and infrastructure, which will be used for the operation of the service.

In addition, Sarpa is considering three types of prices: “Passengers will fly at their price, starting with a basic fare, going through the intermediate fare, with additional services, and an all-inclusive fare, which also provides flexibility for a date or itinerary changes,” concluded the president.

OTHER AIRLINES IN THE FIELD:

Recent times have not been the most favorable for various sectors of the economy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline industry was no exception, as different airlines had to adapt to new models and even think about reducing their quality standards to ‘survive’.

The most recent case is that of Avianca, now owned by Panamanians, which was said to be joining the Chilean company Sky Airlines as a ‘lifesaver in the face of the economic crisis. However, this version was denied.

The study ‘Digital consumption trends in the travel industry’ conducted by Comscore, presented in late September, revealed the preferences of Colombian travelers when traveling in terms of accommodation platforms and airlines. The research analyzed the online consumption trends of travelers in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Colombia.

The report showed that Latam Airlines has the most significant leaders in the airline market in three of the six countries analyzed: Argentina, Peru, and Chile. On the other hand, in Colombia, Avianca and Viva Air’s companies lead in-flight consumption. The latter, for example, has been characterized as a low-cost airline that, in turn, offers trips to more than ten destinations in the country.

Speaking of Latam, for example, it announced in recent days that it would incorporate three more aircraft: one in November and two in December, ending the year with a total of 24. “Similarly, the Latam Group closed an agreement to renew up to 70 aircraft of the A320 family, and this will allow it to update part of its fleet for a more efficient one”, said Santiago Alvarez, executive director of Latam Colombia, in statements reported by El Espectador.

Likewise, the airline stated that “it will achieve this with the launch of seven new routes, most of which connect intermediate cities directly” for the fourth quarter.