Avianca turns first-quarter profit as passenger revenue rises and cargo sags

Colombia’s Avianca reported a $13m profit in Q1, reversing last year’s $12m loss for the first three months of the year. The Bogota-based carrier said on 30 April that revenue during the three months ended 31 March reached $1.27b, up more than 16% on the same period in 2023. Passenger revenue alone rose to $786m, from $631m last year. Operating profit, or EBITDAR, came in at $272m, up 39% from $233m in the same period of 2023, while the EBITDAR margin remained stable at 21.5%. “We continue to deliver strong results in a quarter that is not one of the strongest of the year,” says CE Frederico Pedreira. It was the first set of results under Pedreira, who rose to the role of CE in January. “In the first quarter, we introduced a new, more simplified and flexible fare scheme that allows our customers to fly according to their needs, and we continued to expand our network and improve our connectivity with the launch of new routes, including the reopening of Bogota-Paris, after 20 years, as well as Bogota-Montreal,” he adds.<br/>