Q&A with Declan Ryan, newly appointed CEO of Viva Air

Noticias Airbus caught up with Declan Ryan just after being named CEO of Viva Air to talk about the LCC market in South America.

The Airbus-Viva Air relationship began in 2012 when the airline started operations with A320 aircraft. Viva Air, based in Medellin, has been an all-Airbus operator since, and today it operates 11 A320s. Viva Air recently launched Viva Air Peru, the sister airline of VivaColombia based in Lima. Viva Air Peru currently operates three A320 aircraft.

1- You obviously have a great deal of experience in LCC markets in other parts of the world - what similarities do you see with the Latin American market at the same early stage in its development?
Ryan: There are lots of similarities. I don’t think people understand how good, for example, Colombian aviation is. Avianca has been around for 75 years – it’s like Lufthansa. It means that the people believe in those airlines. There are lots of similarities to Europe and there are lots of differences.

2- So precisely, which differences do you see?
Ryan: The difference that upset me most is that 80% of all birds fly over Colombia, (and strike our airplanes). There is no country in the world that has that kind of migration! (Laughs)

Seriously, there are lots of differences. For instance smartphone penetration. It is at a lower percentage (in South America) than you see in Singapore or Europe.

3- Clearly you think Latin America has great potential for LCC growth. What do you think needs to happen at the Government / regulatory level in order to see the same levels of LCC market share that other regions of the world have achieved?
Ryan: The first point I would mention is financial regulation. The same thing (applies to) all carriers in Peru. As an example, we pay all taxes in Peru. I am pretty sure LATAM pay all their taxes, but I’m not sure the other carriers are paying all their taxes. And in different parts of the globe, and in particular, say, France because of Air France you will have financial audits every year. There are no financial audits by the Peruvian DGAC and that’s very bad. Colombia is very different than Peru in some ways (as) it’s more US-oriented.

4- It is clear that LCCs grow the market and don’t necessarily take market share from the incumbents. What message do you have for airlines in the region that are concerned about all the new LCCs entering the market?
Ryan: Let’s take the European example. When Ryanair started in Dublin and London in the mid-1980s, there were 800,000 passengers on the route and fares were very high. Now there are over four million passengers a year on (that) route and the fares are lot lower. So if this question is directed towards Avianca and LATAM (vis a vis VivaColombia) your fares will go down but you will probably get more passengers.

For more information please contact:
Guillaume Gressin
Sales Director, Airbus Latin America & Caribbean
guillaume.gressin@airbus.com