Newbie airline Latin American Wings is going where others fear to tread: crisis-ridden Caracas. Even more remarkable, it"™s making money.
The Santiago-based carrier has been turning a profit by flying immigrants to Chile from Venezuela and Haiti since it started operating early last year, Chief Executive Officer Andres Dulcinelli said. Flights arrive in Santiago full and leave half empty as immigration to South America"™s wealthiest nation soars.
While companies such as Delta Air Lines Inc., Latam Airlines SA and Avianca Holdings SA have nixed flights to Caracas on security issues and the near impossibility of getting money out of the country, LAW, as the airline is known, has expanded. It"™s secret? A deal with local carrier Aerolineas Estelar Latinoamerica CA, which takes care of the hassle of converting bolivars into dollars. Now, the budget airline is planning to increase flights to Caracas and across Latin America.
«If Latam Airlines and Avianca are cutting capacity, and demand in the region keeps growing at 10 percent per year as it has been in recent years, it"™s a huge opportunity for companies such as Sky, JetSmart or us,» Dulcinelli said, referring to other new carriers arriving in the region. «There"™s still a lot of room for everyone to grow»…
