Considered one of Latin The united states’s greatest airways is making a significant exchange with a small letter.

Bogota, Colombia-based Avianca Airways unveiled a rebranding undertaking this week, converting its stylized identify and emblem to a lower-cased “avianca airways.”

The Superstar Alliance member, which emerged from Bankruptcy 11 chapter coverage that it entered on the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Might of 2020, described the rebranding because the end result of 2 years of labor reorienting the airline for a broader flying public.

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The airline described the lower-case “a” as being “an emblem of an organization that, by way of combining the most productive of its over 100 years of flying with the practicality and versatility of the fashionable cheap global, has ceased to be for a couple of and is now for everybody.”

“We noticed [during the pandemic] that it used to be no longer most effective conceivable but in addition vital to succeed in a unique avianca, one this is extra open, nearer, extra available, and with extra for everybody,” CEO Adrian Neuhauser mentioned in a press free up. “After just about two years, that new avianca is right here.”

Over that two-year length, the airline simplified its fleet to 2 airplane varieties — the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 787 — reconfigured its A320s in an all-economy format that has 20% extra seats than the former multiclass configuration, stepped forward its reliability and grew its community, which is able to see the airline function 146 routes to 74 locations throughout 24 nations by way of the tip of 2023. That incorporates 26 new routes added in 2023, plus different locations and routes that it will probably achieve via its codeshare with Superstar Alliance companions like United Airways.

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The rebranding comes as go back and forth within the Latin The united states go back and forth marketplace is turning into extra aggressive than ever.

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Commute between the U.S. and Latin The united states has been in call for, however in recent times, the inter-region hall has develop into much more necessary for airways. Delta Air Strains’ nascent three way partnership with Santiago, Chile-based LATAM has noticed the U.S. provider transfer to place itself extra aggressively within the South American marketplace, whilst American Airways’ contemporary codeshare tie-up with South American ultra-low-cost provider JetSmart, coupled with its present dating with Brazilian provider GOL, unlocks a mess of routes between North and South The united states.

With robust call for and powerful festival, there are alternatives for airways on each side of the area, one thing that Neuhauser reiterated throughout a press convention this week.

“The U.S. is a key marketplace for us; it is been considered one of our greatest enlargement markets,” Neuhauser mentioned. “We are within the top-three non-U.S. carriers lately at JFK and Miami.”

“It is a marketplace the place our LifeMiles [frequent flyer] program could also be gaining larger intensity as a loyalty program, and that’s the reason permitting us to power extra visitors into our program,” he added.

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With its hub at the northern fringe of South The united states however at a top altitude — the airport’s elevation is indexed as 8,360 toes — the airline has each geographic benefits and downsides in serving as a connecting hub between North and South The united states.

“We see maximum of our enlargement at some point as being point-to-point,” Neuhauser mentioned. “That having been mentioned, Bogota is an important head, or even with out attempting — for lack of a higher description — the truth is now we have such a lot connectivity right here. Connectivity via Bogota represents 40% of our flying.”

Neuhauser cited a contemporary World Air Delivery Affiliation find out about, on the other hand, that discovered the airport’s capability is lately restricted to a per-hour overall of round 74 operations (or overall choice of arrivals and departures mixed). That capability may well be larger, however it might require really extensive enhancements to infrastructure and operations on the airport.

“We do not see, within the close to long run, a lot more talent to continue to grow in Bogota till the ones investments are made,” he mentioned.

However, the airline sees quite a lot of call for that may facilitate enlargement, together with from the U.S. Significantly, the Pew Analysis Heart estimates about 1.4 million Hispanic other people of Colombian foundation are living within the U.S.

Avianca has been Colombia’s flag provider because it used to be based in 1919. (Its authentic identify used to be Sociedad Colombo Alemana de Transportes Aéreos, or SCADTA.)