Avianca Group International Limited (formerly Avianca Holdings S.A. and AviancaTaca Holding Inc.) is a pan-regional Latin American multinational airline holding company with its registered office in St Albans, England, and its global headquarters in Bogotá, Colombia. It was formed in February 2010 after a merger agreement between Avianca and TACA Airlines, the flag carriers of Colombia and El Salvador respectively, when Avianca and TACA became wholly owned subsidiaries of Avianca Holdings. TACA Airlines shareholders were given 29% and Avianca Airlines shareholders were given 71% of the shares in the new company.[2][3][4]
 | |
 Avianca Headquarters in Bogotá | |
| Company type | Private limited Company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Air transport |
| Founded | February 2010 |
| Founder | Ernesto Cortissoz |
| Headquarters | St Albans, England, UK (Registered office) Bogotá, Colombia (Corporate headquarters) |
Number of locations | |
Key people | Frederico Pedreira (CEO) Roberto Kriete (Chairman) |
| Products |
|
| Revenue |  US$ 4.3 billion (2012) |
| US$ 198.6 million (2012) | |
Number of employees | +19,000 |
| Parent | Abra Group |
| Subsidiaries | |
| Website | www |
| Footnotes / references fleet size: 107 (134, regional and charter)[1] destinations: 100 | |
The company was previously listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Colombia Stock Exchange as Avianca Holdings. Since its inception, the Avianca Group has expanded its portfolio of operations and brands with the acquisition of the Mexican AeroUnion in 2014. The Group also owns the Avianca Express brand and LifeMiles, the Avianca rewards program.
Operations
The company is the second largest airline holding in Latin America by revenue and fleet size after LATAM Airlines Group based in Santiago, Chile. With a fleet of 173 aircraft and more than 19,000 employees, Avianca serves over 100 destinations in America and Europe, which connect to over 750 destinations worldwide through codeshare agreements with partner airlines. Avianca carried 24.6 million passengers in 2013.[5]
Subsidiaries
Current
- Avianca
- Helicol
- PAS - Petroleum Aviation and Services
- Helicol
- Avianca Cargo
- Avianca Costa Rica
- Avianca Ecuador
- Avianca El Salvador
- Avianca Express
- Avianca Guatemala
- Avianca Honduras (dormant)[6]
- Deprisa
Former
- Aeroperlas
- Avianca Perú
- La Costeña
- SANSA
- Servicios Aeroportuarios Integrados[7]
- Vuelos Internos Privados
Shareholding
Shareholding composition of Avianca Holding S.A. as of March 31, 2021:[8]
- BRW Aviation LLC – 51.53 %
- Kingsland Holdings Limited – 14.46 %
- United Airlines – less than 1%
- Avianca Holdings S.A – 15.64 %
- Several pension funds plus numerous individual investors, mostly Colombian and others – 17.37%
Corporate affairs
The key trends for the Avianca Group are (as of the financial year ending December 31):
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue (US$ m) | 3,794 | 4,269 | 4,609 | 4,703 | 4,361 | 4,138 | 4,441 | 4,890 | 4,621 | 1,711 | 336 | 4,047 |
| Net profit[a] (US$ m)[9] | 99 | 38 | 248 | 128 | −139 | 44.2 | 82.0 | 1.1 | −894 | −1,094 | −15.1 | −322 |
| Number of employees (FTE) | 17,360 | 18,071 | 19,153 | 19,961 | 20,485 | 20,449 | 18,641 | 18,338 | 16,707 | 14,568 | ||
| Number of passengers[b] (m) | 20.4 | 23.0 | 24.6 | 26.2 | 28.2 | 29.4 | 30.5 | 30.6 | 30.5 | 7.9 | 24.6 | |
| Passenger load factor (%) | 79.6 | 79.6 | 80.5 | 79.4 | 79.7 | 81.1 | 81.7 | 83.0 | 81.7 | 74.1 | ||
| Total aircraft | 147 | 171 | 193 | 193 | 191 | 187 | 191 | 196 | 171 | 150 | 140 | |
| References | [10] | [11] | [10] | [12][13] | [12] | [14] | [15] | [16] | [17] | [18] | [19] | [19][20] |
Paradise Papers
On November 5, 2017, the Paradise Papers, a set of confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investment, revealed that the company's former Chairman Germán Efromovich was linked to an offshore conglomerate used for the aero-commercial holding business with ramifications in Bermuda, Panama and Cyprus. Efromovich used a Panamanian offshore that hid more than 20 firms located in tax havens. The conglomerate was used by Avianca Holdings in the purchase of MacAir Jet, now Avianca Argentina, an aircraft company owned by Macri Group, for an amount of US$10 million. Allowing Avianca to make headway in the low-cost carrier business in Argentina. The Argentine government accepted these offshores as a financial guarantee to assign air routes to Avianca which is now being investigated by the Argentine federal justice system.[21]
Bankruptcy
On May 10, 2020, Avianca filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States after failing to pay bondholders, becoming one of the major airlines to file for bankruptcy due to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.[22][23][24]
In November 2020, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved its $2 billion refinancing plan.[25][26]
In November 2021, Avianca Holdings announced they would move their legal address from Panama to the United Kingdom, and that they would change their name to Avianca Group.[27] On December 1, 2021, Avianca emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in its history.[28]
Fleet
As of June 2024[update], the fleet of the Avianca Group consists of the following aircraft:[29]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | W | Y+ | Y | Total | ||||
| Airbus A319-100 | 8 | — | – | 12 | 48 | 84 | 144 | To be retired by 2024.[30] |
| Airbus A320-200 | 79 | — | – | 12 | 60 | 108 | 180 | |
| – | – | – | 188 | 188 | Former Viva Air Colombia aircraft.[31] | |||
| Airbus A320neo | 43 | 44[32] | – | 12 | 60 | 108 | 180 | |
| – | – | – | 188 | 188 | Former Viva Air Colombia aircraft.[31] | |||
| Boeing 787-8 | 14 | 2[33] | 28 | – | – | 222 | 250 | |
| 20 | – | – | 271 | 291 | ||||
| 32 | – | – | 259 | 291 | Former Norwegian Long Haul aircraft.[34] | |||
| Cargo fleet | ||||||||
| Airbus A300-600RF | 1 | — | Cargo | |||||
| Airbus A330-200F | 6 | — | ||||||
| Airbus A330-200P2F | — | 2[35] | ||||||
| Airbus A330-300P2F | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Boeing 767-200ER/BDSF | 2 | — | ||||||
| Total | 154 | 49 | ||||||