Avianca Group has announced it will reactivate Aviateca Guatemala (GU, Guatemala City) with a single A320-200 from December 1, 2022.
Subject to the necessary government authorisations, the Guatemalan carrier will connect Guatemala City with Flores Mundo Maya International domestically (3x weekly starting on December 1) and with Comayagua Palmerola International in Honduras (3x weekly starting on December 1) and San Salvador International (weekly starting on December 6). All flights will be operated under the avianca airlines brand. The parent holding said avianca airlines El Salvador (TA, San Salvador International) would also add an extra frequency on its flights to Guatemala from San Pedro Sula.
The parent holding did not respond to ch-aviation's query concerning the A320's identity and whether it would come from the group's existing fleet. As the schedule is relatively limited, the aircraft will likely be seconded from another Avianca Group AOC.
The development will see Aviateca turn to jet aircraft for the first time in almost 20 years after having operated two ATR72-600s before the COVID-19 pandemic. The first was grounded when the pandemic started in March 2020, and the other in March 2021. Since then, Aviateca has been dormant after the parent holding resolved to sell all of its ATR - Avions de Transport Régional aircraft. The ch-aviation fleets history module shows that Aviateca's fleet comprised B737-200s and B737-300s in the 1990s and early 2000s. The last of the -200s was retired in 2004, and since then, the airline has only operated ATR turboprops.
Currently, no airline in Guatemala operates narrowbody aircraft.
