VivaColombia shows minimal market disruption as Colombian traffic posts solid growth

Upstart VivaColombia appears to be creating little disruption in Colombia's domestic market after the low-cost carrier modelled after sister Mexican carrier VivaAerobus made its debut in May-2012. After just a month of operations it built up a roughly 3% market share while its two main rivals Avianca and LAN Colombia increased their share. Meanwhile, Copa Colombia continues to cede domestic market share as it continues a focus on redeploying domestic capacity to international markets.

But early data do not constitute a trend, and with less than a few months in operation VivaColombia has lots to prove in order to declare that a low-cost model is viable in Colombia. The carrier already is making some network tweaks, and VivaColombia needs to successfully execute its strategy of focusing on thinner, largely leisure-oriented routes before it can conclude it has a permanent place in the Colombian market.