The Colombian low cost Viva Air already lands in Ezeiza

On Thursday morning the first two flights of the Colombian airline landed at the Metropolitan Aeroparque fresh air. They should have reached Ezeiza, but the fog forced those and some other flights to be divertedwhich landed in Montevideo and Rosario.

The two flights represented an important moment in the case of Viva, and not just because they were the first two commercial flights to Argentina.

This airline, based in the city of Medellin and in the European and US capitals, flies to 60 destinations in Colombia and throughout the region, with international connections mainly focused on the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. Most of Viva’s capital belongs to the group Ireland and a minority percentage comes from the investment fund Cartesian, the same ones that control Flybondi in Argentina.

Viva started selling its route to Ezeiza less than four months ago, once the routes were cleared by the National Civil Aviation Administrationl (ANAC). He did it with a very aggressive commercial policy, with seats between Ezeiza-Medellín and Bogotá for $ 450 round trip.

What the Argentine probably did not expect Felice Anteloa young executive trained for 18 years in the Latam airline and who now commands Viva Air from Medellín, was that the route to Ezeiza would become within a few weeks one of the most important of the 60s flying.

“It is the second most important route we have and we are only making the maiden flightAntelo said Clarione during the presentation of the airline, in a bar in Palermo. Viva started with four weekly frequencies from Medellín and another four from Bogotá, with 1,500 weekly seats available. Antelo said that by the end of the year “we will probably reach a fifth weekly frequency from the two destinations”.

“We knew there would be a great response from the Colombians, because they are crazy about Buenos Aires and for the sake of exchange rate“added Antelo.” But there is also a sale that we weren’t expecting for tickets that eliminate the Argentines who want to go to the Caribbean. We are talking about steps that they cannot be paid in installments, at an exchange rate that today, with the two taxes applied on tourism, yields a dollar of 210 pesos“.

The increase in Argentines traveling abroad occurs not only in the present case. Wednesday the group Air France-KLM announced that this month it will increase its frequencies to Buenos Aires, from Paris and Amsterdam, up to the total 13 a week for a total of 3,500 places. Flights to Madrid of Aerolineas Argentinas and Iberia depart without a single empty seat. The same is happening, according to tour operators, with the demand for the seats they offer to the United States airline companies and the Americans American Airlines, United and Delta.

In turn, this greater outflow of Argentines abroad would also have a correlation in public accounts this year. According to estimates by the consultancy firm Equilibra, led by Lorenzo Sigaut Gravina, this year the international tourism deficit will practically double, going from a red close to 2.5 billion dollars to another of over 4.7 billion dollars.

That red is not only due to the departure of Argentines abroad, but also to the low number of foreigners who visit Argentina and pay for their consumption with a credit card. In April, foreign tourists paid only $ 37 million with plastic money, and the tourism account deficit was $ 507 million. According to economist Andrés Borenstein, the normal spending of $ 150 million to $ 200 million per month by foreign visitors. Now, everything indicates that the number of tourists has not declined, but that most are turning to the “concierge dollar”.

Antelo pointed out that for Colombian tourists Buenos Aires continues to be a cheap destination, especially for treating yourself to some occasional treat. “Eat Argentine meat and Mendoza wine for 20 dollars It is still very accessible for a tourist from Colombia. Other prices, which have grown 60% in one year against a blue dollar that has stopped, they are no longer so attractive“.