Avianca Chief Executive Hernan Rincon said on Tuesday he expects the Colombian airline to become one of only two major international carriers connecting the Latin American region with global destinations. Rincon said in an interview with Reuters in New York that the airline is working to boost its presence in Argentina and Mexico, where parent company Synergy Holding is negotiating a 49 percent stake in Aeromar Airlines. Synergy purchased Argentine carrier Macair Jet in 2016.
"There will continue to be some smaller regional airlines of course, but airlines that have the capacity to serve all of Latin America _ We believe that there will be only two," Rincon said, adding that he expects Chile's Latam Airlines to be the other.
"We're building for that," he said. Synergy rather than Avianca itself is spearheading the effort, but the Bogota-based airline it controls will be at the center of future deals from an operations and strategic perspective, Rincon said.
Avianca, which is also studying a potential merger with its sister airline in Brazil, flies to Argentina and Mexico but its footprint is limited. Avianca also has a limited presence in Chile, which Rincon said is unlikely to change in the near future. One market Avianca is not betting on is Venezuela, where it recently halted all flights, a decision Rincon said it is willing to revisit "as soon as the situation improves" and the country makes changes to things like security, jet fuel quality and delivery and airport conditions.
Another major step in the company's expansion plans is an agreement with United Continental Holdings Inc that Rincon said would help Avianca expand beyond the 20 US destinations it expects to serve directly within the next two years.