A level playing field for Latin America. This is what will happen if regulatory approvals are granted to the creation of a new major airline group in Latin America, the future Abra Group Ltd.
This decision was taken by the main shareholders of the Colombian airline Avianca and the controlling shareholder of the Brazilian airline GOL. Abra Group to control Avianca and GOL and will bring their iconic brands together under a single holding company.
Thanks to the recent investments made by Avianca and Viva shareholders, the Group will also hold interests in the low-cost airline Viva's operations in Colombia and Peru, as well as a minority investment in the Chilean airline Sky Airline.
Equality between Abra Group and Latam Airlines
Based on OAG's calculations of the schedules of the various airlines, Abra would be about the same size as the Latam Airlines in terms of weekly seats. That's about 1.4 million seats. In Brazil, the group would control around 28 % of the market, behind Azul Airlines (34 %) and Latam (32 %). Abra's share of capacity in Colombia would be around 62%, compared with 23% for Latam.
The future Abra Group will offer 288 routes between Latin American airportsof which around two-thirds are domestic routes. OAG's timetables show that there are currently no competing routes between Avianca and GOL.
According to the two airlines, the future entity will have the advantage of having the lowest unit cost in their respective markets. As with IAG (British Airways and Iberia), Abra will ensure that the brands, corporate cultures and staff of Avianca and GOL are maintained. On the other hand, the two companies will gain in efficiency, in particular through purchasing and sales. joint investments.
Abra will provide a platform for operating airlines to reduce costs, achieve greater economies of scale, continue to operate a state-of-the-art fleet of aircraft and expand their routes, services, product offerings and frequent flyer programmes.
Big names in industry at the helm of Abra
The main shareholders of Avianca and the majority shareholder of GOL will co-control Abra Group. The Chairman of the group has already been chosen. He is Roberto Kriete, who comes from TACA, Central America's leading airline, which merged with Avianca in 2009. Constantino de Oliveira Junior will be the group's CEO. He founded GOL Airlines in 2001.
Roberto Kriete, Chairman of Abra Group, explains: " Our vision is to create an airline group that tackles the issues of the 21st century, improves air transport for our customers, employees and partners, and for the communities in which we operate. Our customers will benefit from access to even lower fares, more destinations, more frequent flights and seamless connections.They will also be able to earn and use points as part of brand loyalty programmes. They will also enjoy enhanced travel benefits and access to superior products and services."
