The founder of Viva Colombia has created a new airline to compete with Avianca

Despite the difficulties unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the air transport sector, a new airline has requested permission to operate in the country. It is Ultra Air SAS, the new company created by William Shaw (the founder of Viva Colombia, now Viva Air), with which it intends to cover regular air transport services for passengers, mail and freight.

According to a civil air force document, the new airline is based at the José María Córdoba airport in Rionegro, Antioquia.

The new company, which would be focused on the low-cost market, aspires to operate 29 domestic and 15 international routes, to destinations such as Mexico City, Miami, Lima Guayaquil, Quito, Curaçao, Cancun and Aruba, among others, which would put the in a competitive position ahead of the industry leader, Avianca.

A hearing will be held on 26 November in which Aerocivil will announce whether or not the operating permit has been granted to the new airline.

The fleet has a controversial model

“The air freight service would be provided with the CEO of Airbus A320 and Boeing B737 MAX 8”, announces the Aerocivil document, which has begun to generate controversy.

The first aircraft has the ability to comfortably cover short and medium-haul flights. According to the manufacturer’s data, it has a capacity of 140 to 180 passengers.

The 737 Max 8, on the other hand, is a more modern model, produced by North American Boeing, which has been embroiled in controversy over two consecutive new plane crashes: Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines flights between 2018 and 2019. As a result, the sales and order flow of the 737 Max aircraft has been suspended.

As reported by media such as CNN, Airlines from over 40 countries around the world, including Colombia, landed their 737 Max models due to the deaths of 157 people during an Ethiopian airline flight and 189 over the Java Sea aboard a Lion plane Indonesian Air.

However, as reported by CNN en Español, just last Wednesday, it was announced that the 737 had received approval to fly again from the US Department of Transportation, after 20 months on the ground. With this, they hope to regain passenger confidence.

Who is William Shaw?

Shaw founded in 2008 the airline Viva Colombia, the company that now operates under the name of Viva Air, the result of an idea that emerged during his master’s studies at Stanford University.

Shaw left the airline in 2018, after serving as president, communications director and board member. He was also president of Flycana, an airline in the Dominican Republic; Member of the board of Green Africa Airways; member of the Advisory Board of Procolombia; and, more recently, president of Interjet in Mexico, from which he split mid-year.