Improving Colombian Aviation Competitiveness

Colombia is one of Latin Americas most vibrant economies with a fast-growing aviation sector. To take this growth forward requires a strategic vision. I congratulate President Juan Manuel Santos for articulating this in his plans for aviation to play a key role in driving growth in the Colombian economy. This vision must be supported by strong government policies to improve aviations competitiveness and to facilitate profitable growth with greater liberalization and infrastructure improvements, said Giovanni Bisignani, IATAs Director General and CEO.

Bisignani met with President Santos to discuss the future of aviation in Colombia and to celebrate 100 years of powered flight in the country.

President Santos has set a national agenda to strengthen the countrys economy with a more vibrant travel and tourism sector which today supports 4.9% of Colombian GDP and nearly one million jobs. The President set three strategic goals to be achieved over the next four years: (1) to double the number of airline seats on offer in the Colombian market (2) to increase visitor arrivals from 2.8 million to 4 million annually, and (3) to raise travel and tourism from Colombias third largest source of foreign exchange (behind oil and mining) to first place.

Aviation will play a key role in achieving these goals. Clearly the President understands this industrys ability to be a catalyst for economic growth. Many existing policies have created great opportunities for Colombian aviation. But some areas do require major changes, said Bisignani.

Bisignani highlighted the following in his meeting with the President:

• Liberalization: Liberal policies have supported rapid developments in Colombian aviation, including 24% traffic growth between 2009 and 2010. The mergers that have taken place in Colombia had strengthened the competitiveness of the main carriers serving Colombia, said Bisignani noting the 2009 merger of Avianca with TACA, followed by LANs acquisition of Aires, and COPAs integration with Aero Republica. These companies are competing in a more open market. The US-Colombia Open Skies Agreement was a major milestone. Colombian business and tourism is now more connected to the world than ever before. The next priority is to formalize and quickly move ahead with a policy for regional liberalization, said Bisignani.

• Airports:In 2006, the Operadora Aeroportuaria Internacional (OPAIN) was given a 20-year concession to run Bogotas El Dorado International Airport, Colombias largest airport. In four years passenger numbers jumped from 11.7 million to 19 million. After that, everything was a disaster. We saw proposals for increases in some specific non-regulated fees of up to 280%. The promised investment did not happen. All aspects of the terminal are saturated and service levels are falling, said Bisignani. The Bogota Chamber of Commerce surveyed customer satisfaction at the airport in 2009 and 2010 to find that, on a five point scale, customer satisfaction with the airport dropped from 3.66 to 3.44 in a single year. In four years passenger numbers jumped from 11.7 million to 19 million. After that, everything was a disaster. We saw proposals for increases in some specific non-regulated fees of up to 280%. The promised investment did not happen. All aspects of the terminal are saturated and service levels are falling, said Bisignani. The Bogota Chamber of Commerce surveyed customer satisfaction at the airport in 2009 and 2010 to find that, on a five point scale, customer satisfaction with the airport dropped from 3.66 to 3.44 in a single year. Concessions can be an efficient way to quickly develop airport infrastructure. But they are only successful if there is a strong, independent and transparent regulatory framework to manage investments, service levels and charges. There is an urgent need to review Bogotas concession, update the master plan and put in place an effective regulatory framework. Otherwise you will be turning away business with insufficient capacity, high costs and poor service, said Bisignani.

• Air Traffic Management: Colombias air traffic management needs a major overhaul to bring it into the modern era, said Bisignani. In 2006, IATA, the Asociación Colombiana del Transporte Aéreo (ATAC), the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA)and Aerocivil signed an agreement to improve air traffic management. IATA presented a study that showed the potential for a 30% increase in airspace capacity with more efficient use of El Dorado International Airports parallel runways, revised approach and departure procedures, enhanced controller training, and implementation of modern procedures known as area navigation (RNAV) and performance based navigation (PBN). The study has been around for five years. But the results have been limited. I urged the President to make airspace improvements a priority, said Bisignani.

Aviation is a great industry with 100 years of history in Colombia. It also has a great future in continuing to build Colombias economic success. If we can continue to create an environment to support aviations competitiveness with further liberalization and infrastructure improvements, I am absolutely confident that President Santoss vision can be achieved, said Bisignani.