officially, the airínea Avianca hizo públic his statement regarding the decisionón refusal taken by Aerocivil to the request to belong to the same group with Viva.
Avianca receive with concernóIn the recent decisionón negative taken by AeronáCivil utica regarding the joint application of Avianca and Viva to be part of the same business group.
Así start the statement, where the aerosolínea más largest of Colombia shows its concernóin the face of denialón of the aeron authorityáColombian utica to the order made by both companies.
Aerocivil says no to Avianca and Viva
For its part, the governing body has concluded that the integrationón represents risks to competition in the sector and the well-being of consumers.
Once the information has been studiedón provided and the data accessed by the Authority, it was concludedó what, to allow integrationón proposal will be promotedían, among others, the following effects:
- Generate or reinforce market power in favor of the integrated entity (Avianca, Viva Air and Viva Perú). The participants participate in 59 national routes, that mobilize the 93.7% of the trádomestic fig of the país. of these routes, on 29 national round trip routes participate coincidentally.
- This economic groupómonkey reachíhim 100% of the participationón and 16 national routes.
- The economic indicatorsómethods that were used to evaluate this integrationón show considerable potential deterioration. And téterms of free competition, meaníto a retreat and return to levels that are not seenístill in the país ago más de 7 años.
- Viva, which has been a relevant player in the Colombian market, has energized competition in the sector and has become a valuable alternative for Colombian and regional consumers.ón, to vanishías an independent competitor.
- The other competitors will face each otheríface new difficulties to grow or enter markets affected by higher entry barriers and greater market power.
- Consumers canístill be harmed to the extent that the integrated entity (Avianca, Viva Air and Viva Perú) tendería más facilities, incentives and lower risks by increasing your prices, reduce frequencies, cancel routes or reduce complementary services, among others.
- Free competition is a right of all that entails responsibilities. The authorities in charge of authorizing business integrations have the legal and constitutional duty to protect the market, free economic competitionómica and, above all, to customers.
This application, that seeks to protect passengers and jobs and promote connectivity in the countryís, hornbeamíhas allowed Avianca to support Viva to turn the situation aroundófinancial n low-cost. in the event of delays in the payment of financial commitments with the lessees of the aircraft, themselvesún informó Avianca.
Adrian Neuhauser, President and CEO of Avianca statedó:
“We are concerned about the meaning of the decisionón, well it goes againstíto the needs of the countryís and does not know the potential effect it will haveíto the disappearanceóViva's report on users and the market. From Avianca we reiterate our willingness to actively participate in the rescue of Viva, seeking to maintain the connectivity of travelers, strengthen tourism and preserve formal employment.”
Faced with this scenario, Avianca analyzeá in detail the decisionón of the Aerocivil and evaluateá all legal alternatives available to seek the necessary approvals.
It is important to clarify that this process is independent from Abra Group, project in which the shareholders of Avianca and GOL keep moving forward.
