A year ago, Latin America had at least 14 airline startups lining up to start operating in 2021. While some may still fly in the near future, by December 18, 2021, the only Latin American startup that launched operations has temporarily halted its flights. So, what happened? Let’s investigate further.

2021 - not the year of the Latin American startup

A year ago, we ran a story called 2021: the year of South American startups? We expected several new carriers to appear across the continent by that time. A month after, CAPA released a document addressing the same subject.

By the end of 2020, the Latin American airline startups were Itapemirim Transportes Aéreos and Nella Airlines in Brazil; Vlu and Zenith Aero in Mexico; Ultra Air and Starblue Airlines in Colombia; Ecuatoriana Airlines, Galapago Airways, and EQUAIR in Ecuador; Fly-CD in Bonaire; Flycana and AVA Airways in the Dominican Republic; and Fly Peru and LAPERU in Peru.

Brazil’s Itapemirim Transportes Aéreos has been the only airline to launch flights. Nonetheless, it announced a temporary ceasing of operations on Friday, December 17. EQUAIR is planning to start flying next week, on December 22. Therefore, once the year ends, the final tally will be one active startup, one out-of-business startup, and 12 remaining to be seen.

Ultra Air is close to launching flights. It could happen as soon as the next quarter. Photo: Ultra Air

Which airlines could still have a future?

Launching an airline is not an easy task, especially in a region with so much economic uncertainty as Latin America. A businessman planning to start his airline has to find a niche, the money, establish the company, get the regulatory approvals, lease or buy airplanes, and so much more. Plus, so many things can go wrong at any given moment.

The Latin American region has had one of the worst economic impacts due to the COVID-19 crisis. Moreover, the local governments gave zero economic support to the airline industry during the pandemic.

Nonetheless, we could still see a few Latin American startups fly shortly. Here are our safest bets:

Ultra Air

The Colombian startup is led by William Shaw, a businessman executive with plenty of expertise in the airline industry. He has been involved with Green Africa Airways in Nigeria, Flycana in the Dominican Republic, Flybondi in Argentina, and Interjet in Mexico.

Ultra Air recently received its first painted aircraft. While there is no official launching date, the airline aims to start operations in 2022’s first quarter.

EQUAIR will operate a fleet of four B737-700. Photo: EQUAIR.

EQUAIR

This Ecuadorian startup may be the safest bet of all. The company aims to start flying as soon as next week. A few days ago, it received its first painted aircraft, a Boeing 737-700 that used to fly with KLM.

Ecuatoriana Airlines

A few months ago, it seemed like Ecuatoriana Airlines was going to be the second startup to launch operations after Brazil’s Itapemirim. The company held a press conference, showed the new product, announced the fleet, and even signed an agreement with ACC Aviation to lease three Dash-8-Q400 during the Dubai Airshow.

Nevertheless, there’s no official launching date yet.

Flycana

The Dominican startup Flycana could also start flying in 2022. Although to be fair, it is no longer called Flycana. In September, the airline changed its name to Arajet, as reported by Aviacionline.

Arajet has legal authorization to operate international charter flights and scheduled commercial flights in the milk route Santo Domingo-Havana-Georgetown. The startup could use a fleet of five Boeing 737-8 aircraft next year.

There are a few carriers that haven't published enough information, like Nella Airlines. Photo: Nella Airlines.

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Not enough information at the moment

From the following airlines, there's not enough information available currently.

Nella Airlines

The Brazil startup may not be the regional airline based at Brasilia International Airport we thought it would be.

Instead, Nella Airlines has received a $2 billion reais investment from a Saudi fund. It has also acquired two companies throughout the year, Bolivia’s Amaszonas and Venezuela’s Albatros. At the moment, we don’t know exactly what to expect from this company.

Ava Airways

The Dominican carrier Ava Airways recently announced Hitit would become its tech provider. According to local reports, Ava Airways could start flying by the end of 2022’s summer. It plans scheduled commercial flights to North America, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Turkey.

Fly Peru

In July, we reported that startup Fly Peru had received its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the Peruvian government. The company planned to start flying by the end of the year. Nonetheless, there hasn’t been any new information since.

Which airlines look sketchy?

Due to a lack of information, there are a few startups that don’t look too promising at the moment. That’s the case of Colombia’s Starblue Airlines, Ecuador’s Galapagos Airways, Peru’s LAPERU, and Mexico’s VLU, and Zenith Aero.

How many Latin American startups do you believe will actually fly? Let us know in the comments below.