Viva Air Colombia
Fast Colombia S.A.S., trading as Viva Air Colombia and formerly VivaColombia, is a Colombian low-cost airline based in Rionegro, Antioquia, Colombia.[2] It is a subsidiary of Irelandia Aviation and third largest airline in the country.[3] It is not legally affiliated with Mexico's VivaAerobús, a fellow low-cost carrier co-founded by Irelandia which also uses the "Viva" brand.[4]
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| Founded | September 16, 2009 | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | May 25, 2012 | ||||||
| AOC # | 9B2F646F | ||||||
| Hubs | |||||||
| Focus cities | Rafael Núñez International Airport[1] | ||||||
| Alliance | VivaAerobús | ||||||
| Subsidiaries | Viva Air Perú | ||||||
| Fleet size | 23 | ||||||
| Destinations | 24 | ||||||
| Parent company | Irelandia Aviation | ||||||
| Headquarters | Rionegro, Colombia | ||||||
| Key people |
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| Website | www | ||||||
History
The airline is part of the Irelandia Aviation investment fund. Irelandia a leading low-cost airline developer, led by Declan Ryan (chairman of the Viva Air group and one of the founders of Ryanair). Irelandia personnel have been involved in the development of six low-cost airlines around the world: Ryanair, Tiger Airways Australia, Allegiant Air, VivaAerobus, Viva Air Colombia and Viva Air Perú. Irelandia currently owns 100% of its shares.
In 2017, Viva Air Perú, a Peruvian subsidiary airline, was launched and with which the expansion process throughout Latin America continues.
In April 2018, it changed its name from VivaColombia to Viva Air Colombia to expand its model in Latin America and within the expansion plan Santa Marta was announced as the third center of operations in Colombia. The operations center was enabled in October 2018 with routes that were not covered by other airlines such as Santa Marta, San Andrés, Bucaramanga, and Pereira. This operations center will be assigned two aircraft initially.[5]
In November 2021, the airline has entered an interline agreement with Mexico-based VivaAerobús.[6]
Destinations
Viva Air Colombia serves the following destinations:
Fleet
At first, Viva Air Colombia had two options for operation of aircraft: the Boeing 737 or Airbus A320. In a press conference on November 10, 2011, it was announced to the public that in 2012, the aircraft chosen will be the A320 fitted with CFM engines high performance for the airline's better economy and improved consumer prices.
The Viva Air Colombia fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of February 2022):[17]
| Aircraft | In service |
Orders | Passengers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A320-200 | 11 | 1 | 180/188 | |
| Airbus A320neo | 12 | 23[18] | 188 | |
| Total | 23 | 24 | ||
Accidents and incidents
- On February 4, 2015, an Airbus A320-200 (registered HK-5051) covering the Bogotá-Medellin route took off with 182 people, but 17 minutes later, a fire was registered in one of its engines for which it had to make an emergency landing at El Dorado International Airport. Once on the ground, the firefighters controlled the problem in the engine, which generated panic among the passengers. The Civil Aeronautics indicated that the passengers "do not present any serious situation."[19]
References
- "VivaColombia confirms Panama and Peru services and new base at Bogota in 2014 - CAPA". centreforaviation.com.
- "Viva Colombia volará a Bucaramanga". www.vanguardia.com.
- "While the Global Aviation Industry Faces Crisis, Viva Air Remains in Growth Mode: Exclusive Interview with CEO Felix Antelo - Finance Colombia". 18 May 2020.
- Moss, Loren (27 February 2020). "Irelandia Aviation To Grant Equity Ownership To All Viva Air Employees". Finance Colombia. Finance Colombia. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
- "Viva Air inaugurated its base of operations in Santa Marta". October 29, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- Martínez Garbuno, Daniel (28 October 2021). "2 LCCs Sign 1st Interline Agreement Of Its Type In The Americas". Simple Flying. Simple Flying. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
- "Viva to fly between Bogotá and Buenos Aires". Aviacionline.com. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
- "Viva Air Requests Permission For Flights To Argentina". Simpleflying.com. 14 May 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
- "VIVA applies for more than 30 international routes". Aviacionline.com. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
- "Viva Air solicita permisos para volar a Chile Brasil y Costa Rica". Delphosmagazine.com. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
- "The Significance Of Viva Air's New Route From Colombia To Brazil". Simpleflying.com. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- "Viva Air inicio nuevas rutas a Armenia y Villavicencio". Volavi.co. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
- "Colombia's Viva Launches Flights To The Dominican Republic". Simpleflying.com. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
- "VIVA inaugurates flights to Punta Cana". Aviacionline.com. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
- "Viva Air plans to fly Guayaquil". February 13, 2019. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
- Sebastián Polito (4 August 2021). "Viva Air Colombia inaugurates flights between Medellin and Mexico City". Aviacionline.com. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
- "Viva Air Colombia Fleet Details and History". planespotters.net. 4 February 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
- "Viva Air commits to 50 A320 Family aircraft". Airbus.com. June 20, 2017.
- "Viva Colombia plane makes an emergency landing in Bogotá due to fire in an engine". EL HERALDO (in Spanish). Retrieved November 1, 2019.
Sources:
- "VivaColombia llegará pronto a Popayán".
- Dinero. "vivacolombia prepara para volar bajos costos". vivacolombia prepara para volar bajos costos.
- "VivaColombia volará a bajo costo desde Rionegro". 5 May 2011.
- ""El Edén debería operar 'low cost'": Viva Colombia".
- "Compañías aéreas que vuelan a Popayán". sugue.com.co.
- "True Low Cost prices for Colombia". Archived from the original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2011-07-05.
External links
Media related to Viva Colombia at Wikimedia Commons
 Airlines of Colombia | |
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| Scheduled | |
| Low cost | |
| Charter | |
| Cargo | |
| Helicopter | |
| Defunct | |