Satena celebrated 61 years operating in the country. On this anniversary, Brigadier General Óscar Zuluaga Castaño, president of Satena, spoke with Portafolio about the plans to strengthen the airline in the country, in which they will use US$80 million from the Government to purchase eight aircraft and connect more regions with destinations. international.
(Open skies: Satena opens the Barranquilla – Caracas route).
How do you see the current macroeconomic outlook?
2023 has brought some challenges in the air market with a fairly large significance. The first quarter has marked a special condition where the eyes of all users are on the airlines, this because the macroeconomic effects have impacted the operational and cost structures.
One of the items that has risen the most and affected this structure is fuel.
In January 2022, a gallon of jet fuel cost $9,000, months later it went to $24,000, now the price is a little more moderate at $18,000, and today it also weighs 49% of the costs of an airline, it is very high.
(Aerial crisis: Government expects Viva Air and Ultra to return to operation).
In this way, companies are in constant search to reduce costs.
How have you optimized costs?
Every day we are looking for efficiencies. Since the pandemic, we have made a significant reduction in leasing, maintenance and other elements that impacted the company’s finances. Having done this at the time has generated that despite the impact we have had, Satena has not been more affected than expected.
What investments will the Government make to strengthen the airline?
This year we expect economic support of US$20 million will allow us to strengthen Satena’s installed capacity and acquire six 19-seat planes that will allow us to generate this interconnection in those most remote departments where due to some infrastructure condition, the planes we have 48 chairs cannot enter.
How is the fleet today and how will it be in four years?
Today we have nine aircraft under lease (leasing) and three are our own. The intention is to acquire six 19-seat aircraft; we cannot do it through leasing because the cost of the plane and the number of seats do not give the profitability for its payment; In addition, we will acquire two more planes with 48 seats to increase our capacity.
For this the Government will invest US$80 million.
What are the destinations you have in your sights?
Within the growth Satena plans is the regional-cross-border connection, we are talking about, for example, connecting Venezuela (Caracas, Valencia, Barcelona and the Margaritas Islands) with Bucaramanga, Barranquilla, Arauca or Puerto Carreño. The same from and to Ecuador (Quito, Guayaquil, Esmeraldas or Lago Agrio) and Peru with Ipiales, Tumaco, Puerto Asis or Cali.
And to and from San Andrés?
Our intention is to fly to Costa Rica either to San José or to Limón. This network of routes will allow tourists as well as corporate travelers to take advantage of the advantages offered by Satena.
How many routes and destinations are the goal?
At this moment we have 38 destinations and 88 routes, the intention is to reach 50 destinations and 160 routes. Thus we can have up to 5% market share.
What will happen to the shared code with Avianca to integrate with Viva?
We have held some work groups with Avianca to be able to analyze this aspect, however, my position is that it must be a shared code that is win-win, where it is an advantage for both, where we can make ourselves visible, but at the same time At the same time we can have those competitive advantages.
(Satena announces the operation of two routes between Colombia and Venezuela).
It must be under this figure, otherwise it would not make sense.
With your incursion into Venezuela, what is the passenger goal?
In 2013, the market that moved between Venezuela and Colombia was approximately 1.3 million passengers. We aspire to mobilize 3% of that total.
This year which plans will materialize?
They are still estimated and we are still waiting for the resources. Until then I can go out and do the corresponding negotiations. However, as soon as the US$20 million is received, we will buy the two 19-seat aircraft and two 48-seat aircraft. If all goes well, we would have those planes at the end of the year or at the beginning of 2024.
They turn 61 years old. How have you seen your journey in the country?
We seek to connect the most remote places in the country where the population did not have access to shopping centers. Today we cover 68% of the national territory (present in 24 departments) and 2% of the market.
PAULA GALEANO BALAGUERA
