Colombia: Regulator upholds free pricing on flights amid soaring fares

As long as the Government does not order an intervention on the airline sector,Colombia’s competition regulator, the Superintendence for Industry and Commerce (SIC) will not advance any investigation against the airlines, despite massive price increases and damages caused by the strike of Avianca’s pilots. The announcement by the head of the SIC, Pablo Felipe Robledo, remarked that, although complaints about the rise in air travel pricing have increased in recent days this is often true of many other products.

“The general rule is that of freedom in pricing and a maximum price is imposed only in those sectors that are governed by pricing regulation, and no one to this day has decreed a regulation for the aeronautical sector”, he said.
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In that context, while last week a plane ticket between Medellín and Bogota cost in some cases more than one million pesos (US $ 339.00), close to 8 times its usual price.

As of October 1, the reduction of Avianca’s operation was of 51%, since out of 316 scheduled flights, 161 were canceled, affecting 15,403 passengers. The conflict between the company and the pilots affiliated to the Colombian Association of Civil Aviators (Acdac) is ongoing after more than 15 days of striking.

Full Content: El Colombiano

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