Aerocivil, the Colombian aeronautical authority, gave the go-ahead and approved the low-cost Ultra Air´s project to advance the process of obtaining its operator certificate.
Ultra Air has already started the certification process to start operating in the Colombian aeronautical market as soon as possible. The company already has 10 million dollars of capital accumulated in the last 8 months. It promises to reduce rates by 20%, presenting a 5% growth in earnings for travel agencies and the hotel industry in the coming years and generating 36,000 new direct, indirect and induced jobs.
William Shaw, founder and CEO of Ultra Air, said: «We are happy about this decision, since our presentation in November last year we have been working to meet the requirements demanded by the authority. This approval becomes a vote of confidence in the project and in our investments to develop an ultra-low cost product that stimulates the air market.
Everything had started with the first request of the legal representative of the company William Shaw to Aerocivil in November of last year at the public hearing. There, it had applied for an operating permission for its regular flights and cargo to 26 destinations within Colombia and another 15 international ones. The fleet expects to be completed with 40 aircraft and will be made up of Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 MAX 8. The base will be the Rionegro airport, located in the interior of Medellín.
The domestic routes are:
From | To | Frequency |
Bogotá | Medellín | 42 weekly flights |
Bogotá | Cali | 35 weekly flights |
Bogotá | Cartagena | 35 weekly flights |
Bogotá | Santa Marta | 35 weekly flights |
Bogotá | San Andrés | 28 weekly flights |
Bogotá | Pereira | 21 weekly flights |
Bogotá | Barranquilla | 14 weekly flights |
Bogotá | Bucaramanga | 14 weekly flights |
Bogotá | Cúcuta | 14 weekly flights |
Bogotá | Riohacha | 14 weekly flights |
Bogotá | Pasto | 14 weekly flights |
Bogotá | Leticia | 14 weekly flights |
Bogotá | Montería | 14 weekly flights |
Medellín | Cali | 17 weekly flights |
Medellín | Cartagena | 21 weekly flights |
Medellín | Santa Marta | 21 weekly flights |
Medellín | Barranquilla | 14 weekly flights |
Medellín | Bucaramanga | 14 weekly flights |
Medellín | Cúcuta | 14 weekly flights |
Medellín | Riohacha | 14 weekly flights |
Medellín | Pasto | 14 weekly flights |
Medellín | Leticia | 14 weekly flights |
Medellín | Montería | 14 weekly flights |
Santa Marta | Pereira | 14 weekly flights |
Cartagena | Pereira | 14 weekly flights |
Santa Marta | Cali | 14 weekly flights |
San Andrés | Cali | 14 weekly flights |
Cartagena | Cali | 14 weekly flights |
Barranquilla | Cali | 14 weekly flights |
While the international routes are:
From | To | Frequency |
Bogotá | Mexico City | 14 weekly flights |
Bogotá | Cancún | 14 weekly flights |
Bogotá | Miami | 14 weekly flights |
Bogotá | Santo Domingo | 7 weekly flights |
Bogotá | Quito | 7 weekly flights |
Bogotá | Lima | 7 weekly flights |
Bogotá | Curazao | 7 weekly flights |
Bogotá | Guayaquil | 7 weekly flights |
Medellín | Miami | 11 weekly flights |
Medellín | Cancún | 11 weekly flights |
Medellín | Mexico City | 11 weekly flights |
Medellín | Guayaquil | 7 weekly flights |
Medellín | New York | 7 weekly flights |
Medellín | Aruba | 4 weekly flights |
Medellín | Punta Cana | 4 weekly flights |
William Shaw, the businessman with 26 years of experience in the aeronautical sector and former director of Interjet between 2019 and 2020, created Ultra Air as an opportunity generated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Today it hopes, with the growth of its low cost, to be able to be a direct competitor of LATAM, Avianca and Viva.