GOL Airlines denies any link between its plans for a low-cost airline in Mexico and the possibility that it may need to fill a growing vacuum in Brazil if Varig collapses.
The low-cost carrier that GOL agreed to launch with Mexican partners is still under wraps, even though a swarm of other low-cost Mexican rivals have already taken off. Reports from Brazil in January said that GOL’s Mexican airline would be launched mid-year, but this has not happened and GOL has offered no information about it.
GOL president Constantino Oliveira Junior recently discussed plans to launch flights to Chile and Peru, but did not mention Mexico. The intensifying competition within Mexico’s low-cost sector and GOL’s silence have led some observers to wonder if GOL may have decided to shelve its Mexican plan.
Coupled with this is GOL’s growing opportunity in Brazil as Varig teeters near collapse. With half of Varig’s fleet grounded because it cannot afford maintenance, lessors are clamouring for the right to seize all its aircraft. Brazil’s new civil aviation administration has quietly approached TAM and GOL about contingency plans in case Varig stops flying. Oliveira says it would “not be very elegant” to talk about what GOL might do, but other senior GOL officials confirm that it could expand operations in an effort to fill Varig’s vacuum both within Brazil and throughout South America.
Because of these developments some have doubts about GOL’s intent to proceed in Mexico. But according to GOL: “The Mexican low-cost carrier has no influence on the company’s operations in Brazil, as such, any increases in operations in Brazil – whether due to Varig or other economic influence – will have no effect on GOL’s joint venture in Mexico.” ■
Source: Airline Business
