The UAE has secured terms for one of its airlines to obtain easier access to
the lucrative Colombian market, according to a recent agreement signed in
Bogota.
Last week, the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) signed a deal
with its Colombian counterpart, which will allow a designated carrier from each
country to be exempted “to the fullest extent possible under its national law”
from various import and customs restrictions.
The agreement also includes exemptions for excise taxes, inspection fees and
other national duties.
A further provision of the deal will allow both of the designated airlines
to enter into code-sharing deals.
Emirates, the most likely UAE carrier to add flights to Colombia, had no
comment when contacted by Arabian Business.
The Dubai carrier already flies to Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo, a
service it began in October 2007.
Emirates’ freight division, SkyCargo, added a new weekly schedule to a
second Sao Paulo airport at the beginning of this month.
In a statement to Arabian Business, the UAE flag-carrier, Etihad, confirmed
it had no current plans for scheduled flights to Colombia.
“However, South America is an emerging market and a region of interest for
Etihad, and we are looking at other opportunities on the continent as part of
our future network planning,” a spokesperson for the airline said.
“While we can’t commit to a timeframe at this point, it is likely that we
will launch services to South America within the next five years.”
Colombia is considered as one of the best candidates for second-generation
emerging market growth. With a sizeable population, the country booked a 250
percent increase in foreign investment during the course of this year.
It has been termed one of the CIVETS – a recent acronym coined to replace
the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) description of the most important
emerging markets.
Other countries in that acronym include Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey
and South Africa, all of which have relatively sophisticated financial systems,
controlled inflation and booming young populations.
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