Avianca posted a US$653 net loss in 2021’s first half. (Photo: Getty Images)

Net loss and Avianca’s operating revenues

Avianca has been dealing with a complex operating scenario in Latin America. While the company’s leading airline is in Colombia, it also has branches in Central America, and Ecuador, so it has faced different travel restrictions throughout the pandemic.

This has led to Avianca’s operating revenue in 2021’s first half to be US$808 million. That number was a 64% decrease compared to 2019’s first six months when the airline achieved over US$2.2 billion in revenue.

Total operating expenses continue to be more than the revenues. Avianca spent US$1.1 billion during the quarter, mainly on salaries, fuel, and fees, as reported by the company.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and previous crises, Avianca is currently in a Chapter 11 financial reorganization. It is one of the three Latin American carriers in this process. Among the three (LATAM, Avianca, and Aeromexico), have racked up losses of US$2.2 billion in the first half of 2021.

Avianca hasn’t recovered its pre-pandemic traffic levels. (Photo: Getty Images).

Avianca’s passenger number continue down

So far in Q1 & Q2 2021, Avianca has carried 4.8 million passengers across its routes. In June, the carrier surpassed the one-millionth passenger barrier for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic hit South America in March 2020.

Avianca has had an average load factor of 67%, which is a number that needs improvement. The airline has operated 55,883 total cycles (that is, departures and landings).

All these numbers are a fraction of what Avianca had achieved in 2019. During that year’s first half, the airline carried 16.05 million passengers, meaning Avianca has recovered 30% of its pre-pandemic passenger count. In addition, Avianca’s load factor during 2019’s first half was 81.8%, while the airline had 146,061 complete cycles.

Avianca has 145 aircraft, including several A330s (both passenger and freighter) like the one in this picture. (Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying).

What about the fleet?

In the last six months, Avianca has remained almost changeless regarding its fleet. Unlike its Chapter 11 partners, Avianca hasn’t rejected leasing agreements nor signed new orders. As a recap, Aeromexico has altered its Boeing 737 MAX order and now will receive up to 40 units; LATAM will get 28 additional A320 and five B787 Dreamliners.

Meanwhile, Avianca won’t take any new aircraft from Airbus and Boeing until 2024. Nevertheless, it will honor some leasing agreements, and the airline will get 58 new deliveries between 2021 and 2023.

Cre: Simple Flying

Nguyen Xuan Nghia – COMM