Star Alliance member Avianca rebrands, focuses on expansion and improved reliability

21.10.2023 - 16:09 / thepointsguy.com / Adrian Neuhauser / Star

One of Latin America's biggest airlines is making a major change with a small letter.

Bogota, Colombia-based Avianca Airlines unveiled a rebranding project this week, changing its stylized name and logo to a lower-cased "avianca airlines."

The Star Alliance member, which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection that it entered at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in May of 2020, described the rebranding as the culmination of two years of work reorienting the airline for a broader flying public.

Want more airline-specific news? Sign up for TPG's free biweekly Aviation newsletter.

The airline described the lower-case "a" as being "a symbol of a company that, by combining the best of its over 100 years of flying with the practicality and flexibility of the modern low-cost world, has ceased to be for a few and is now for everyone."

"We saw [during the pandemic] that it was not only possible but also necessary to achieve a different avianca, one that is more open, closer, more accessible, and with more for everyone," CEO Adrian Neuhauser said in a press release. "After nearly two years, that new avianca is here."

Over that two-year period, the airline simplified its fleet to two aircraft types — the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 787 — reconfigured its A320s in an all-economy layout that has 20% more seats than the previous multiclass configuration, improved its reliability and grew its network, which will see the airline operate 146 routes to 74 destinations across 24 countries by the end of 2023. That includes 26 new routes added in 2023, plus other destinations and routes that it can reach through its codeshare with Star Alliance partners like United Airlines.

Star Alliance sweet spots: Complete guide to earning and redeeming Avianca LifeMiles

The rebranding comes as travel in the Latin America travel market is becoming more competitive than ever.

Travel between the U.S. and Latin America has been in demand, but in recent years, the inter-region corridor has become even more important for airlines. Delta Air Lines' nascent joint venture with Santiago, Chile-based LATAM has seen the U.S. carrier move to position itself more aggressively in the South American market, while American Airlines' recent codeshare tie-up with South American ultra-low-cost carrier JetSmart, coupled with its existing relationship with Brazilian carrier GOL, unlocks a multitude of routes between North and South America.

With strong demand and strong competition, there are opportunities for airlines on both sides of the region, something that Neuhauser reiterated during a press conference this week.

"The U.S. is a key market for us; it's been one of our largest growth markets," Neuhauser said. "We're in the top-three