Avianca increases 2023 earnings on back of record passenger numbers

Colombia’s Avianca saw earnings rise in 2023 as it transported 31.9m passengers, the most in its history, while keeping costs in check. The Bogota-based carrier said on 22 March that revenue for 2023 rose 15%, to $4.8b, against the prior year, with EBITDAR also increasing 66% to 1.2b. During Q4, the company’s EBITDAR was $332m, on revenue of $1.23b, an 11.4% increase on the same period a year earlier. Costs rose 2.8% to $4.15b during the year and by 8.2% during th final quarter. “2023 was a historic year for us: we reached the highest numbers of passengers transported in Avianca’s history, as flying with Avianca is more accessible today due to the company’s competitive prices, which have remained stable relative to pre-pandemic levels in spite of the challenging macroeconomic environment,” says Frederico Pedreira, Avianca’s CE. Pedreira took over the role from Adrian Neuhauser in January, who stepped down to take the CE job at holding group Abra. Avianca’s capacity during Q4 of 2023, as measured in available seat kilometres, rose 31% over Q4 a year earlier. The airline transported 9m passengers during the final three months of the year, almost 43% more than during the same period in 2022.<br/>