The CEO of the firm is Gabriela Sommerfeld, who returns to the aviation business after an absence of almost ten years.
Fill the space left by Tame in the national aeronautical market after the previous Government ordered its liquidation. That is the goal of the new Ecuadorian flag airline that was presented this November 16. It is an initiative of a group of investors whose visible head is Gabriela Sommerfeld, who has a well-known track record in the industry. She is his chief executive officer (CEO).
“The project was born from the need to increase the offer of air services between the main cities of Ecuador. It arises as a result of the pandemic, when the last company that served the local market is closed and a vacuum remains. We met a group of Ecuadorians who decided to bet on the country, and who have been working with different authorities and national industry players for 18 months to launch this company, “she says.
The company name of the new company is Equinoxair Airlines. The executive points out that they have already requested the respective permits and frequencies from the Civil Aviation Directorate (DAC), and that the certifications from international regulatory bodies are in process. He estimates that they will start their flights in the second half of December.
They will fly to Quito, Guayaquil, Galapagos, Manta and Coca. It does not specify the number of flights they will have daily, but indicates that its strategy will be for passengers to choose the times they want to travel. “Not at the time we want.” “There will be a significant supply of frequencies,” he says.
Sommerfeld explains that they made an alliance with the multinational Boeing, which will lease Next Generation 737-700 aircraft. They will start with two this year, and until next year there will be four. “They are comfortable and safe,” says the executive.
And he adds that said agreement also includes the training of its employees, who in a first stage add up to 155. “They have trained 100% of our technical staff: pilots, crew members, flight dispatchers, mechanics and marketing and sales ”.
For now, the amount of the investment of the new airline has not been made public. According to data from the Superintendency of Companies, it was created with a subscribed capital of $ 16,000.
Sommerfeld was the founder of the defunct airline Aerogal, which in its time absorbed VIP. And then it merged with the holding Avianca-Taca. She was part of the latter until 2012; that is to say, that it returns to the business after almost ten years of absence.
When asked about the future of the aeronautical industry after the strong impact it suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic, she says bluntly: “It is time to grow and develop. Ecuador is ready for that ”. (I)
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