Although the talks began several months ago, it is only now known that they have come to fruition: Avianca and Sky Airlines will merge to become the most important low-cost airline in Latin America.
According to the Chilean media Financial JournalHolger Paulmann, owner and president of the Chilean Sky Airlines, will be the one to direct the new merger, in addition to becoming a shareholder of the Avianca Group, the company that directs the destinations of the airline born in Colombia. Sky will be a subsidiary of Avianca.
The novelty is known when little by little an incipient economic reactivation is taking place in parallel with the end of the health crisis, and the fall in deaths from coronavirus around the world.
It also comes as Sky announced that it made a significant investment of more than $ 550 million to renew its fleet and purchase Airbus A320 NEO. These ships consume less fuel and allow traveling greater distances at lower costs, an objective that both companies have set with this alliance.
It is understood that the marketing and advertising strategy of both Avianca and Sky will be to continue operating with their respective brand names so as not to affect the recognition they already have in Latin America, at least for now.
According to the same Chilean media, the Brazilian GOL was also interested in Sky, to the point that there were negotiations, meetings with reservations and even a pre-agreement was going to be sealed.
It is also known that there was an attempted purchase by Indigo Partners, a private equity fund based in Phoenix, United States. This fund controls Jetsmart.
However, there was no agreement.
Sky has long been planning a plan to acquire small airlines in the region. However, she couldn’t do it alone.
Now, with the injection of funds and the regional structure and the support provided by Avianca, and the partners (Elliot Management and Caoba, two global investment funds specialized in investing in indebted companies) it will be much easier for you.
The airline industry will have to be reborn. This graph shows the serious situation after the covid.