What is the outlook for the aviation sector in Colombia? How is Latam?
Santiago Álvarez: Despite the contraction of the economy and although interest rates have decreased, as well as inflation, the macroeconomic scenario continues to be challenging for the airline industry. Despite the complexity of the environment, at Latam we continue to focus on growing in the country, taking into account that Colombia has become the second most important domestic market for the Latam Group, after Brazil. In fact, by 2024 we hope to transport 12 million passengers on the 29 domestic routes we have in Colombia, as well as the four international ones.
How are you strengthening your regional offer in the country? Will they expand the routes?
SA: We currently have a 30 percent share of seats in the country and we expect to grow our supply of seats by 12 percent in 2024. This translates into, for example, the opening of new routes. In March of this year we will open the Bogotá-Ibagué route, which will have seven frequencies a week on Airbus 320 aircraft and an offer of more than 9,000 seats per month. Latam’s purpose is to contribute to the decentralization of the operation in Bogotá. That is why during the current season up to 1,650 flights will be operated per week, of which 87 percent are assigned to domestic routes. The greatest growth is focused on routes in the tourist segment such as San Andrés, Riohacha, Pasto, Leticia, Pereira and Cúcuta, accumulating 42 additional frequencies per week in these destinations compared to the previous season.
In terms of participation of the regions, Medellín has consolidated itself as the protagonist of the decentralization of the Bogotá operation, being Latam’s second passenger distribution center in Colombia, with a 26 percent participation in the total supply of the airline in the country. Then comes the Caribbean Coast (Cartagena, Barranquilla and Santa Marta), which concentrates 30 percent and Cali, which has a 16 percent share.
And international destinations?
SA: In 2024 we are going to increase one frequency on our recently inaugurated Bogotá-Caracas route, reaching four frequencies a week; In July, we will inaugurate the Bogotá-Madrid route, which will have seven frequencies a week (one daily), and will seek to bring Colombians closer to Spain, the main gateway for Latin Americans to the European continent. Thus, Latam will connect Colombia with nine international destinations: Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Brazil, the United States, Venezuela and Spain.
In addition, we will continue developing the alliance with Delta Airlines through which we connect Medellín with Miami (operated by Latam), Cartagena with Atlanta and Bogotá with Orlando and New York, the latter operated by Delta. With this alliance, Latam has doubled its participation of international passengers in Colombia, which together with Delta is reaching close to 10 percent of the total.
Santiago Álvarez, CEO of Latam Airlines Colombia. | Photo: Courtesy LATAM
Latam Cargo has established itself as one of the largest flower transporters during the Valentine’s season. What results do you expect for this date?
SA: The flower transport season for Valentine’s Day starts on January 18 and runs until February 8. There are 21 marathon days in which our loading team is completely dedicated to transporting, with great care, tons of flowers to the United States and Europe. This year, we transported more than 13,000 tons, which is about 300 million stems; an additional 19 percent to what we transport in 2023. In total, we made 220 flights to Miami and Los Angeles from Bogotá and Medellín.
How did you prepare to mobilize this amount of flowers?
SA: Looking ahead to the season, we at the Latam Group are making large investments to modernize the cold cargo warehouses, which currently represent around 9,000 square meters of available surface. For this operation, the Latam group has a specialized fleet of 21 Boeing 767 freighter aircraft.
Recently, Standard & Poor’s classified them as the most sustainable airline group in Latin America. So what role does sustainability play in business?
SA: That’s right, according to Standard & Poor’s most recent corporate sustainability assessment (CSA), which measures environmental, social and corporate governance practices of companies worldwide, our airline group was highlighted as the most sustainable in Latin America. The result of this evaluation makes us feel very proud of the judicious work we have done to make our operation more sustainable and this becomes a factor of choice for our passengers.
And as a group we established long-term commitments that include being a carbon neutral company by 2050, incorporating sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) by 2030 and being a zero waste to landfill company by 2027. Therefore, in the decisions we make in our business, we have sustainability considerations so that our operation is aligned with the fulfillment of our vision.
What actions are they promoting in Colombia?
SA: Regarding concrete actions, from Latam Colombia we work on offsetting emissions from air and land operations through the CO2Bio Colombian Orinoquía conservation project. By 2030 we project that 700 families will benefit economically from their conservation activities in 575,000 hectares of that region of the country linked to the project.
Additionally, 60 percent of our waste is used, through recycling or reuse. And finally, we have our ‘Solidarity Plane’, which provides transportation to organizations that work in health, the environment and that provide support in the event of natural disasters. We work with the Cardioinfantil Foundation, the Schooner Bight Ethnic Association of San Andrés, the Association of Food Banks of Colombia, the Colombian Red Cross, among others. In 2023 our solidarity plane transported 707 passengers and more than 120 tons of cargo from the organizations we work with.
This content was prepared with the support of Latam Airlines Colombia*