GCA Airlines

Gran Colombia de Aviación

IATA ICAO Call sign 9A GCA GRAN COLOMBIA
Founded	August 17, 2017
Commenced operations	November 29, 2019
Ceased operations	April 25, 2022[1]
Hubs	Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport
Fleet size	5
Destinations	7
Parent company	Avior Airlines
Headquarters	Cali, Colombia
Key people	Jorge Luis Añez (CEO)
Website	www.gcaair.com

Gran Colombia de Aviación S.A.S., operating as GCA Airlines, was a Colombian airline subsidiary of Avior Airlines. It was registered at Ibague, based in the city of Cali and with a hub at Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport in the city of Palmira that provided its services to the city from Santiago de Cali.

History

GCA Airlines was registered with the Chamber of Commerce of the city of Ibague on August 17, 2017, and permits were also requested from the Colombian Civil Aeronautics on August 30 of the same year in order to have its constitution as a transportation company approved, along with several national and international routes.^[2] On that occasion, Civil Aeronautics approved its constitution as well as all the requested routes except for the Cali - Valencia route, which was postponed.

Initially, in the request submitted to Aerocivil, the Perales Airport in the city of Ibague was conceived as the airline's hub, but the delay in the modernization works of the airport limited progress in its certification, prompting the request for the transfer to Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport.^[3]

Although the Cali - Valencia route was postponed, it was reconsidered and approved by Aerocivil considering that it is a Colombian airline and the current restriction only applies to Venezuelan airlines until the moment in which reciprocity and equitable access issues are normalized the markets.

On July 11, 2018, the airline’s first aircraft arrived at El Dorado International Airport, a Boeing 737-400 that was later moved to Cali to start the certification procedures before the Civil Aeronautics. On November 29, 2019, the airline commenced operations with a flight between the Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport in Cali, and the Rafael Núñez International Airport in the city of Cartagena.^[4]

On April 25, 2022, GCA Airlines had suspended their operations due to financial difficulties.^[1][5] The airline was completely folded in January 2023.^[6]

Destinations

A Boeing 737-400 and three Fokker 50s of CGA parked at Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport in 2018

By June 2021, GCA Airlines flew to the following destinations:

Country	City	Airport	Notes	Refs
Colombia	Barranquilla	Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport
	Bucaramanga	Palonegro International Airport
	Cali	Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport	Hub
	Cartagena	Rafael Núñez International Airport		[7]
	Cúcuta	Camilo Daza International Airport
	Pereira	Matecaña International Airport		[8]
	San Andrés	Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport

Fleet

As of April 2022^[update], GCA Airlines operated the following aircraft:^[9]

GCA Airlines fleet

Aircraft	In service	Orders	Passengers			Notes
			C	Y	Total
Boeing 737-400	2	2	12	132	144
Fokker 50	3	—	–	50	50	Never entered service
Total	5	2

See also

• Avior Airlines
• List of airlines of Colombia

References

1. "Colombia's GCA Air suspends flight operations". Ch-aviation. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
2. "Aerocivil authorized a Venezuelan capital airline to operate from Ibagué". Revista Dinero. August 31, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
3. "Minutes of the evaluation group for commercial air projects" (PDF). September 4, 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
4. "GCA Airlines starts flying!" (in Spanish). Torre Eldorado. November 28, 2019. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
5. "What happened to the flights of Gran Colombia de Aviación – GCA Airlines?". Nlarenas.com. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
6. "Colombia's GCA Air folds, returns B737". Ch-aviation.com. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
7. "The new airline that will start operating route Cali-Cartagena". aerolatinnews.com. El Espectador. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
8. "GCA Airlines Offers New Route From Pereira" (in Spanish). Torre Eldorado. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
9. "GCA Airlines Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved April 24, 2021.

External links

• Official Website Archived 2020-10-04 at the Wayback Machine