Ryan’s Irelandia launches US route
LATIN America’s Viva Air, founded and backed by Declan Ryan’s Irelandia Aviation, has launched a route to the US from Colombia.
It comes as the Irish-backed low-cost airline gears up an expansion plan built around the addition of 50 new aircraft to its fleet.
The Viva brand currently has operations in Colombia and Peru.
Last year Irelandia caught global headlines when it placed an order at the Paris Air Show for 50 Airbus aircraft.
The order has a list price of about $5.3bn, and the aircraft were ordered for use by Viva Colombia and Viva Peru as part of Viva Air’s aim to expand its business across Latin America.
To date, four of the 50 new aircraft have been delivered, Viva Colombia has said.
It has launched new routes from its third base in the country, in the city of Santa Marta, including a direct flight to Miami, Florida that will launch in mid-December.
Declan Ryan, a son of the late aviation finance pioneer Tony Ryan, was a co-founder of Ryanair, and held a number of senior management posts there including as chief executive.
He later set up Irlandia, which is based in Dublin, to invest in low-cost carrier and startup airlines around the globe.
Previous investments include stakes in Mexico’s VivaAerobus – sold two years ago as focus shifted to Central and South America – as well as stakes in Singapore-based Tiger Airways, and as US-based Allegiant.