SKY Holding is preparing to enter a new South American country, as indicated by an application to establish a new airline in Ecuador, according to documents submitted to the Ecuadorian General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC).
According to the local aviation media of Nicolás Larenas, SKY would enter the Ecuadorian domestic market under the name Fly Airline (Flyair), which would later become SKY Ecuador. With this move, the low-cost airline based in Chile would operate in three countries for domestic flights, including its base of operations in Chile and Peru since 2019.
The submitted documents show that the airline seeks to obtain its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and base an undisclosed number of Airbus A320neo and A321neo aircraft at the Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO) in Quito.
This entry aims to fill the void left by the extinct state airline TAME and the recently failed Equair, making it the first low-cost airline to establish presence in the country and intensify competition in a highly competitive market.
In 2023, 3,403,705 passengers were transported in the domestic market, according to DGAC Ecuador.
Requested Routes and Competition
The requested routes are currently among the most demanded and are usually dominated by LATAM and Avianca. SKY Ecuador would also compete with Aeroregional, which typically avoids direct competition with the two main airlines.
- Quito – Guayaquil and vice versa; with up to 33 weekly frequencies.
- Quito and/or Guayaquil – San Cristóbal – Quito and/or Guayaquil; with up to three weekly frequencies.
- Quito – Manta – Quito; with up to seven weekly frequencies.
- Quito – Cuenca – Quito; with up to seven weekly frequencies.
- Quito – Francisco de Orellana – Quito; with up to seven weekly frequencies.
- Quito – Loja – Quito; with up to seven weekly frequencies.
- Quito – Santa Rosa – Quito; with up to seven weekly frequencies.
In total, SKY Ecuador plans to operate up to 80 weekly flights, indicating a fleet size of 3 or 4 aircraft, considering the relatively small size of the South American country.
It is worth noting that the General Directorate of Civil Aviation of Peru granted SKY Airline Peru the capacity to operate between Lima, Guayaquil, and Quito, providing access to the Peruvian hub for connections with destinations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay.
The Current Status of SKY Holding
In 2023, SKY Airline transported 8,700,000 passengers at its two bases of operations in Chile and Peru, being the second largest airline of those countries. This achievement represents a 50% increase compared to 2019.
See Also: SKY transported more than 8 million passengers in 2023
The low-cost airline currently operates in 9 countries in America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the United States, Mexico, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and, soon, Ecuador), connecting 42 domestic and international destinations. In addition, it will add two new destinations in Brazil (Brasilia and Belo Horizonte) by mid-2024.
SKY Airline ended 2023 with a fleet of 30 aircraft, including the reception of two new aircraft after two years. 25 are Airbus A320neo with a capacity for 186 passengers and 5 Airbus A321neo with a capacity for 238 passengers. The company has pending delivery of two A321neo, which will be delivered in 2024, and ten A321XLR with delivery in 2025, being South America’s launch customer.
