Viva Air Colombia

Viva Air Colombia was more than just another budget airline. With the VivaColombia brand, the ultra-low-cost model came to Colombia in 2012 – cheap tickets, a single aircraft family, extra charges for almost everything except the seat. For eleven years, Viva’s Airbus A320s were an everyday sight in Medellín, Bogotá and Cali. In February 2023, it was suddenly over: the planned takeover by Avianca was stuck at the regulator, and the money was used up. This page shows you who Viva was, why the deal with Avianca failed and what to watch for when you come across a photo or a former Viva aircraft today.

Viva Air Colombia at a glance

Viva Air Colombia was a Colombian low-cost airline based in Rionegro, the site of Medellín’s airport. The company behind it was called Fast Colombia S.A.S. and was founded on September 16, 2009. The first scheduled flight took place on May 25, 2012, between Rionegro and Bogotá. Behind the project was Irelandia Aviation, an investment company that brought the Ryanair principle to Latin America and was also involved in founding the Mexican Viva Aerobus. Irelandia held all the shares in Viva Air Colombia.

The idea was clearly modeled on the European template: a single aircraft type, high utilization, short turnaround times and a base fare that includes only the seat. How this model works economically is explained in the article how low-cost carriers work. Viva applied it in a country where many overland routes take extremely long – ideal for cheap domestic flights.

The name changed several times. Until April 2018, the airline operated as VivaColombia, then as Viva Air. From May 2021, it used only the short name Viva in its marketing. The codes, by contrast, stayed the same.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code VH: appeared in the flight number, on tickets and on departure boards.
• ICAO code VVC: appeared in the air traffic control flight plan and on flight trackers.
• Callsign VIVA COLOMBIA: this is how the crew identified itself on the radio.

The Peruvian sister Viva Air Perú had its own identifiers, namely IATA VV and ICAO VPE with the callsign “VIVA PERÚ”. When you sort old flight data or photos, this separation helps you tell the two companies apart.

From the start in Medellín to a network with three hubs

Viva began in Medellín, more precisely at José María Córdova Airport in Rionegro. The first A320 arrived in Medellín as early as March 2012, a few weeks before the first scheduled flight. In June 2014, Bogotá was added as a second hub, and in December 2020 Cali. In addition, Viva opened a base in Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast in October 2018, and Cartagena became an important destination with weight of its own in the network.

From 2014, it also went abroad. First came Panama, Lima and Quito, then Miami in 2015. By the end in February 2023, Buenos Aires, Cancún, Mexico City, Punta Cana, Orlando, Lima and Miami, among others, were on the schedule, while Viva had already dropped some earlier international destinations. Domestically, the network stretched from the big cities to destinations like San Andrés, Leticia, Riohacha or Villavicencio.

Important for understanding: Viva was a point-to-point airline, even though it named several hubs. The aircraft were stationed at the bases and flew direct routes from there. Connecting itineraries like at Avianca were not the focus. At times there were interline agreements, including with Viva Aerobus and Canada’s Air Transat.

Station	IATA	Role at Viva
Medellín-Rionegro (José María Córdova)	MDE	Home base since 2012, airline headquarters
Bogotá (El Dorado)	BOG	Hub from June 2014
Cali (Alfonso Bonilla Aragón)	CLO	Hub from December 2020
Santa Marta	SMR	Base from October 2018
Cartagena (Rafael Núñez)	CTG	Important destination on the Caribbean coast

Viva Air Perú: the offshoot in Lima

In May 2017, the sister airline Viva Air Perú launched. It had its hub at Jorge Chávez Airport in Lima and flew mainly within Peru. The fleet was small and consisted of A320s that Viva Air Colombia operated. Peru was a growing market for budget airlines at the time – Sky Airline Peru, among others, is active there today.

In the end, the fate of the two Viva airlines was linked: on February 27, 2023, Viva Air Perú also ceased operations, on the same day as its Colombian parent.

The fleet: Airbus A320 only

The fleet was the core of the low-cost model. Viva flew exclusively the Airbus A320 from the manufacturer Airbus – with 188 seats in a single class at launch. In 2017, Viva agreed an order for 50 aircraft of the A320 family with Airbus, which became firm in December 2017. From 2020, the first A320neos joined the fleet.

Type	In service	Number over the years	Spotter tip
Airbus A320-200	2012–2023	around 29	Classic engines, some with sharklets
Airbus A320neo	2020–2023	12	Distinctly larger engines, newer generation

These figures refer to all aircraft Viva operated over the years – significantly fewer were in service at the same time. By the time of the shutdown, the fleet had already shrunk: according to reports from February 2023, Viva had returned several aircraft to lessors, and others were sitting on the ground. How leasing works and why it matters so much for young airlines is explained in the article aircraft leasing.

A320 or A320neo? How to sort old Viva photos

Because Viva flew only one type, the generation is the real spotting question. The livery doesn’t help with that, but the technology does.

Sharklets at the wingtips are not a reliable feature, because many first-generation A320s wear them too. The engines remain the most dependable clue. You can find all the details in the guide A320neo or ceo?.

The failed takeover by Avianca

Viva’s end is closely tied to Avianca, Colombia’s largest airline. On April 29, 2022, Avianca announced it wanted to take over Viva. Shortly afterward, in May 2022, the principal owners of Avianca and Brazil’s GOL introduced the new holding company Abra Group. According to the announcement, Abra was also to take on economic interests in Viva Air Colombia and Viva Air Perú.

That began a long approval process at the Colombian aviation authority Aerocivil. The concern: Avianca and Viva together would have had hardly any competition on many domestic routes. At the end of 2022, the authority initially came out against the merger. The competition also spoke up: in February 2023, JetSMART and LATAM Airlines Colombia publicly expressed interest in Viva as an alternative to Avianca.

Shutdown on February 27, 2023

In February 2023, the situation came to a head. Viva applied for insolvency proceedings, several aircraft went back to lessors, and others stayed on the ground. On February 23, CEO Félix Antelo resigned for health reasons and urged the authority to decide quickly. Four days later, on February 27, 2023, Viva suspended all flight operations with immediate effect. The airline blamed the delay at Aerocivil.

The consequences were large: according to reports, around 466,000 passengers had confirmed bookings at the time of the shutdown. At airports such as El Dorado in Bogotá and José María Córdova in Medellín, stranded passengers protested. Prosecutors later opened investigations into whether Viva had kept selling tickets even though its financial situation was known.

Approval with conditions – and the withdrawal

On March 21, 2023, Aerocivil approved the integration after all, but with conditions. These included:

• Protect Viva customers’ rights: refund canceled flights or carry passengers with open tickets
• Give back slots at Bogotá Airport at peak times
• Preserve Viva’s low-cost model as a separate offering
• Give up frequencies on the Bogotá–Buenos Aires route
• Price caps on routes served solely by the merged company
• Secure competition on the particularly concentrated routes

Avianca considered these conditions untenable. On May 13, 2023, the airline abandoned the plan: under the conditions imposed, Viva could be saved neither financially nor operationally, and they also endangered Avianca’s own stability. Viva said the same day that it could no longer fly in the market without financial support. On June 22, 2023, the Colombian corporate regulator (Superintendencia de Sociedades) announced that the company would be liquidated.

How to recognize Viva Air Colombia

Viva no longer exists, but on photos from 2012 to 2023 the airline is easy to identify. The fuselage carried the titles of the respective brand – “VivaColombia” on older pictures, later “Viva Air” and finally just “Viva”. So the date of the photo and the brand name confirm each other.

The second feature is the registration. Colombian aircraft carry the prefix HK-, followed by a four-digit number. A well-known example is HK-5273, which was painted entirely pink and drew attention to breast cancer awareness – a special design in an otherwise uniform fleet. HK-5051, by contrast, became known in 2015 when it returned to Bogotá after an engine fire on its way from Bogotá to Medellín and landed safely.

Third, the type helps: if you see an aircraft with Viva titles at a Colombian airport in the years 2012 to 2023, it is always an A320. A different type points to a mix-up.

Former Viva aircraft today

Many Viva aircraft were leased. After the shutdown, they went back to their owners and were leased on to other airlines. For spotters, that is the most exciting trail Viva left behind: an A320 that once took off from Medellín may be flying today in completely different colors – with a new registration but the same serial number (MSN).

Transition liveries after an operator change are a collecting field of their own. How to recognize such hybrids is shown in the article recognizing hybrid liveries.

The Colombian market after Viva

With Viva, one of Colombia’s most important budget airlines disappeared. In the low-cost segment, other providers have mainly been active since: Wingo, the low-cost brand of the group behind Copa Airlines, JetSMART and LATAM Airlines Colombia. If you spot in Bogotá or Medellín today, you therefore see many A320s and 737s again – just in different colors. In addition, state-owned Satena serves remote regions.

Common mix-ups

• Treating Viva Air Colombia and Viva Aerobus as the same – same roots at Irelandia, but two separate airlines in two countries.
• Filing Viva Air Perú under VH – the Peruvian sister flew with IATA VV and ICAO VPE.
• Thinking VivaColombia and Viva are two airlines – it is the same company, just with a new brand name from 2018 and 2021.
• Assuming every Viva A320 is a neo – the A320neo was added only in 2020, and most of the fleet was the classic A320-200.
• Thinking Viva was an Avianca subsidiary – the takeover was announced and approved but never completed.

Conclusion

For eleven years, Viva Air Colombia was Colombia’s answer to Ryanair and company: an airline with just one aircraft type, cheap tickets and a network that stretched from Medellín to Miami, Cancún and Buenos Aires. Its end shows how tightly low-cost airlines calculate. When the merger with Avianca didn’t come in time, the money ran out. For spotters, Viva remains a piece of Colombian aviation history – and a trail of A320s that keep flying elsewhere today.