Colombia's Aero Republica confirms it is looking at taking Boeing 737NGs from Panamanian sister carrier Copa Airlines, but claims it has not yet made any decision on whether to go ahead and add the type to its fleet.
Aero Republica earlier this week applied to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for authority to launch a daily service to Miami from its Bogota hub. In the application, the carrier's US attorney stated the carrier intended to launch service to the USA in June and was in the process of acquiring two 737-700/800s to support Bogota-Miami and other new medium to long-haul routes.
But Aero Republica president Roberto Junguito tells ATI the carrier has not yet decided whether to launch the route should it secure all the required approvals. "The fact that we apply or are granted certain rights does not guarantee we have made a final decision yet," he says.
Junguito adds Aero Republica, which currently operates an all Embraer E-190 fleet, also has not made a final decision yet on whether to add 737s. But he says, "if we decide to incorporate 737s in our fleet they could initially come from Copa's current fleet".
Copa is scheduled to take delivery of eight additional 737-800s this year, including two aircraft which were placed into service in January. Copa and Aero Republica parent company Copa Holdings could potentially assign one of these 737-800s to Aero Republica if the company decided to launch Bogota-Miami in 2010.
Copa Holdings could also potentially reassign one of the 737-700s currently operated by Copa to Aero Republica should it decide the smaller variant is more suitable for Aero Republica's potential new medium to long-haul routes.
Aero Republica would also have to decide whether to launch a business class product for its new medium to long-haul international routes or have any 737s exiting Copa re-configured to all-economy before being transferred to Aero Republica. While Copa has a business class in both its E-190s and 737s Aero Republica currently only has an economy product.
Despite the different configurations, Copa Holdings has previously moved E-190s from Panamanian to Colombian registry.
Aero Republica currently only operates domestically and to neighbouring countries. But it has been looking at longer-haul international routes including Bogota-Sao Paulo and Bogota-Miami as well as larger aircraft as part of the next phase of its business plan. The last phase of its business plan, which involved replacing MD-80s with E-190s and focusing primarily on domestic services, concluded at the end of last month with the last MD-80 revenue flight.
If Aero Republica decides to launch medium to long haul international routes it would result in more intense competition against Avianca and Aires, a fast growing Colombian low-cost carrier. Aires, which until early 2009 only operated on regional routes with turboprops, has added eight 737-700s over the last year which it has used to begin competing against Aero Republica and Avianca on domestic trunk routes.
Last November Aires launched its first US route, linking Bogota with Fort Lauderdale, located just north of Miami. ATI reported last month that Aires was scheduled to take two more 737-700s this quarter, which will be used to launch additional services to the US including Barranquilla-Fort Lauderdale, Cali-Fort Lauderdale and Bogota-New York JFK as well as Bogota-Aruba.
Domestically Aires is planning to launch later this month two new domestic routes - Bogota-Riohacha and Bogota-Valledupar. Aires also has said it plans to launch a Bogota-Sao Paulo service in the second half of 2010, another route targeted by Aero Republica.
Junguito told ATI last August that Aero Republica had applied to Colombian authorities for traffic rights to serve several destinations in the US, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru. "We just want to be sure we have options to grow," he said at the time, adding expansion would only be pursued under the right market conditions.
The international expansion at Aero Republica and Aires threatens to end Avianca's status as the only Colombian flag carrier on most international routes, including Bogota-Miami and Bogota-Sao Paulo.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
