Resume aerial connection with Venezuela, pending task

Desde marzo de 2020, justo a las puertas de la cuarentena por la covid-19, las pantallas del aeropuerto El Dorado dejaron de mostrar el avance de los vuelos internacionales de Colombia con Venezuela, relación aerocomercial que si bien no pasaba por uno de sus mejores momentos, analistas sostienen que es un mercado con potencial para ambas naciones.

(Colombia increases air connection with other nations).

"For this to be solved, the two government have to speak and agree that the airlines are already prepared," said Nicola Furnari, president of the Venezuelan Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (Avavit).

"The routes to Colombia have always been highly demanded.After the exodus it has grown even more.The goodness it has is that in an hour you are in either part, ”Furnari complemented.

En modo de contexto, el restablecimiento de las relaciones aerocomerciales entre ambos países estaba contemplado en la segunda fase del plan de reactivación del sector de la aviación, que presentó el Ministerio de Transporte, pero dicha conexión ha sido, de alguna forma, ignorada.

Being also a matter of Foreign Ministry, Portfolio consulted with this portfolio but did not receive an answer.

A locking relationship

Since the implementation of exchange controls by Chavismo, a handful of airlines have stopped flying the airspace of the neighboring country, between those LATAM and Avianca, two great acquaintances in the Colombian market.

En el caso de Latam Airlines, que operaba desde Sao Paulo, Santiago y Lima, frenó sus operaciones en el país en 2016 alegando “una compleja situación macroeconómica”.

A year later, in July 2017, the Colombian airline Avianca suspended its operations after "operational and security limitations".

(This is how the airlines are prepared for the end of the year season).

The firm, which was scheduled by that departure for the month of August of that same year, had 59% of the Bogotá-Caracas-Bogotá route and 77% of the Lima-Caracas-Lima route. Así, Avianca concluyó con una relación de más de 60 años.

It is important to highlight that these companies decided to withdraw from Venezuela due to the impatibility of repatriating their income towards their matrices.

The red awning government implemented a change control where users bought the tickets in bolivars at a preferential rate and then, after an authorization, the airlines received the profits.

But this process was not very expedited by adding airlines and debts, while the cash failures of the Venezuelan regime began.

How was it before the pandemic?

Al momento del cierre por la coyuntura mundial operaban de forma directa las venezolanas Avior y Láser y la colombiana Wingo, mientras que con escala lo hacía la panameña Copa.

Colombia was constituted as one of the few international destinations with which Venezuela was connected.

According to Avior data, in the last five years prior to the closure of operations, five million passengers were mobilized.

A new proposal

Apelando a razones estratégicas, comerciales e históricas, la aerolínea venezolana Avior envió una solicitud a las autoridades diplomáticas y de transporte del vecino país con el fin de restablecer la conectividad aérea entre Colombia y Venezuela, suspendida desde marzo de 2020.

"We bet that the executives of both countries find more points of agreement than of disagreement, that the commercial relationship is maintained and that the aerocomercial relations that were maintained before the pandemic," said Portafolio, Juan Bracamonte, president ofAvior.

The manager affirms that at the moment it is safer to fly by plane than by another way and that the aeronautical processes of both countries comply with the highest standards of biosafety standards."We are at a point to win where both states can have communication," he said.

Thus, they sent a communication to the Chancellor of Venezuela, Félix Plasencia;to the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez and the authorities of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications of the neighboring country.

“When we do this request, we do it in the name of the entire private sector because we want Avianca and Wingo to return (...) Colombia is our main international route, so we do it.We speak on behalf of the sector, we want complete aerocomercial relations to be restored for the benefit of both nations and the population, ”added the Venezuelan manager.

According to calculations made by the company, the aerocomercial operation between the two nations can yield benefits for US $ 80 million in the next five years.

"It would be very successful for it to be achieved, to leave the permission and to remove the political issue for the benefit of the people and tourism of both nations," said Nicola Furnari.

The high executive said that the “special flights” strategy that the administration of Maduro is implementing and taking advantage of the connection with Colombia should be used.

En ese sentido, sostuvo que el vuelo entre las capitales debe ser fijo, mientras que en temporada especial, puedan realizarse conexiones con destinos turísticos de ambos planes.

Roberto Casas Lugo