The ALTA Airline Leaders Forum in Bogota kicked off with a press conference on Sunday, October 24.
The event was attended by Jose Ricardo Botelho, Executive Director & CEO of ALTA; Pedro Heilbron, CEO of Copa Airlines and Chairman of ALTA’s Executive Committee; Gilberto Salcedo, Vice President of ProColombia; and Lucas Rodriguez, Head of the Air Transport Office of Colombia’s Civil Aeronautics, who welcomed the industry’s annual congress and took the opportunity to share some results of the sector’s recovery, especially in Colombia.
Lucas Rodriguez from Colombia’s Civil Aeronautics said: «We continue with a 64% recovery in the international market and two-thirds in the domestic market. This shows that our market in the country has a unique growth capacity around the world, showing resilience in the aviation and tourism sectors.»
«The Colombian market has grown consistently and faster than expected,» he added.
On the other hand, Gilberto Salcedo, Vice President of ProColombia, affirmed «the recovery of air connectivity is a key point in which Colombia has made an additional effort that has generated overwhelming results. The reduction of taxes is an incentive and promoter for the return of demand. This is in addition to an effort with air operators with whom we have worked together». Let’s remember that the government reduced VAT on airline tickets from 19% to 5%.
«Today Colombia is a very affordable and competitive destination, where the industry is committed to sustainability. We want to position the country as a leading destination in sustainability at the regional level,» he concluded.
For his part, Pedro Heilbron focused on aviation recovery in the region. «By 2021, international air transport is 60% below 2019 levels while domestic air transport stands at -20%. However, the numbers are improving each month, mainly at the domestic level.»
Likewise, Heilbron assured that domestic markets are expected to fully recover in 2023 and international markets to do so in 2024, and highlighted that Latin America is going at a faster pace than expected in terms of recuperation.
Botelho pointed out that Latin America and the Caribbean have a great opportunity as a tourist region, given that the world wants to reconnect with nature. But he also said that continued investment in infrastructure is needed as some markets may not be able to handle the new flows.
The ALTA Airline Leaders Forum will be held until October 26 and is expected to be a venue for industry leaders to meet, analyze and determine how to address current industry challenges and how to prepare for the future of air transportation in the region.
Aviacionline is present in Bogota to cover the ALTA Airline Leaders Forum 2021, and you will be able to follow the notes we publish through the special aviacionline.com/altaforum2021, and the highlights instantly through our Twitter and Instagram. In our YouTube channel, we will also be streaming press conferences and interviews.
