Avianca Group

Avianca Group International Limited (formerly Avianca Holdings S.A. and AviancaTaca Holding Inc.) is a pan-regional Colombian multinational airline holding company with its registered office in St Albans, England, and its global headquarters in Bogotá, Colombia. It is the second largest air transport group in Latin America after LATAM Airlines Group.

The Group dates back when it was formed in February 2010 after a merger agreement between Avianca and TACA Airlines, the flag carriers of Colombia and El Salvador respectively, when Avianca and TACA became wholly owned subsidiaries of Avianca Holdings. TACA's shareholders were given 29% and Avianca's shareholders were given 71% of the shares in the new company.[1][2][3]

The company was previously listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Colombia Stock Exchange as Avianca Holdings. Since its inception, the Avianca Group has expanded its portfolio of operations and brands with the acquisition of the Mexican AeroUnion in 2014. The Group also owns the Avianca Express brand and the rewards program LifeMiles.

Operations

The company is the second largest airline holding in Latin America by revenue and fleet size after LATAM Airlines Group based in Santiago, Chile. With a fleet of 173 aircraft and more than 19,000 employees, Avianca serves over 100 destinations in America and Europe, which connect to over 750 destinations worldwide through codeshare agreements with partner airlines. Avianca carried 24.6 million passengers in 2013.[4]

Subsidiaries

Shareholding

Shareholding composition of Avianca Holding S.A. as of March 31, 2021:[8]

• BRW Aviation LLC – 51.53 %
• Kingsland Holdings Limited – 14.46 %
• United Airlines – less than 1%
• Avianca Holdings S.A – 15.64 %
• Several pension funds plus numerous individual investors, mostly Colombian and others – 17.37%

Corporate affairs

The key trends for the Avianca Group are (as of the financial year ending December 31):[9]

Paradise Papers

On November 5, 2017, the Paradise Papers, a set of confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investment, revealed that the company's former Chairman Germán Efromovich was linked to an offshore conglomerate used for the aero-commercial holding business with ramifications in Bermuda, Panama and Cyprus. Efromovich used a Panamanian offshore that hid more than 20 firms located in tax havens. The conglomerate was used by Avianca Holdings in the purchase of MacAir Jet, now Avianca Argentina, an aircraft company owned by Macri Group, for an amount of US$10 million. Allowing Avianca to make headway in the low-cost carrier business in Argentina. The Argentine government accepted these offshores as a financial guarantee to assign air routes to Avianca which is now being investigated by the Argentine federal justice system.[24]

Bankruptcy

On May 10, 2020, Avianca filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States after failing to pay bondholders, becoming one of the major airlines to file for bankruptcy due to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.[25][26][27]

In November 2020, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved its $2 billion refinancing plan.[28][29]

In November 2021, Avianca Holdings announced they would move their legal address from Panama to the United Kingdom, and that they would change their name to Avianca Group.[30] On December 1, 2021, Avianca emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in its history.[31]

Fleet

As of March 2026, the fleet of the Avianca Group consists of the following aircraft:

See also

• List of airline holding companies