GCA Airlines

{{Infobox airline

| airline = Gran Colombia de Aviación

| image = LogoGCA.png

| image_size = 150

| IATA = 9A

| ICAO = GCA

| callsign = GRAN COLOMBIA

| founded = August 17, 2017

| commenced = November 29, 2019

| ceased = April 25, 2022

| aoc =

| hubs = Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport

| secondary_hubs =

| focus_cities =

| frequent_flyer =

| alliance =

| subsidiaries =

| fleet_size = 5

| destinations = 7

| parent = Avior Airlines

| headquarters = Cali, Colombia

| key_people = Jorge Luis Añez (CEO)

| website = {{URL|http://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.{{cite web|title=Aerocivil authorized a Venezuelan capital airline to operate from Ibagué|url=https://www.dinero.com/empresas/articulo/aerolinea-de-capital-venezolano-puede-operar-en-colombia/249414|access-date=August 22, 2018|agency=Revista Dinero|date=August 31, 2017}} 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.{{cite web|title=Minutes of the evaluation group for commercial air projects|url=http://www.aerocivil.gov.co/normatividad/Actas%20GEPA%202017/ACTA%20SESI%C3%93N%2082%20DE%204%20DE%20SEPTIEMBRE%20DE%202017.pdf|date=September 4, 2017|accessdate=22 August 2018}}

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.{{cite news|title=GCA Airlines starts flying!|url=https://torreeldorado.co/nace-gca-airlines/|language=Spanish|accessdate=November 28, 2019|agency=Torre Eldorado|date=November 28, 2019|archive-date=November 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119211325/https://torreeldorado.co/nace-gca-airlines/|url-status=dead}}

On April 25, 2022, GCA Airlines had suspended their operations due to financial difficulties.{{cite web|url=https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/114896-colombias-gca-air-suspends-flight-operations|title=Colombia's GCA Air suspends flight operations|website=Ch-aviation|access-date=April 25, 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nlarenas.com/en/2022/07/what-happened-flights-gran-colombia-aviation-gca-airlines/|title=What happened to the flights of Gran Colombia de Aviación – GCA Airlines?|website=Nlarenas.com|access-date=July 4, 2022}} The airline was completely folded in January 2023.{{cite web|url=https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/124026-colombias-gca-air-folds-returns-b737|title=Colombia's GCA Air folds, returns B737|website=Ch-aviation.com|access-date=February 1, 2023}}

Destinations

File:Gran Colombia de Aviación Wikivacaciones 2018 46.jpg 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:

class="sortable wikitable" !Country !City !Airport !Notes !class="unsortable"\|Refs
rowspan=7\|{{COL}}	Barranquilla	Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport	align=center\|
Bucaramanga	Palonegro International Airport	align=center\|
Cali	Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport	{{Airline hub}}
Cartagena	Rafael Núñez International Airport	align=center\|	{{cite news\|title=The new airline that will start operating route Cali-Cartagena\|url=https://www.elespectador.com/economia/la-nueva-aerolinea-que-arrancara-operando-ruta-cali-cartagena-cali-articulo-891883\|website=aerolatinnews.com\|access-date=November 20, 2019\|agency=El Espectador}}
Cúcuta	Camilo Daza International Airport	align=center\|
Pereira	Matecaña International Airport	align=center\|	{{cite web\|title=GCA Airlines Offers New Route From Pereira\|url=https://torreeldorado.co/gca-airlines-ofrece-desde-pereira-nueva-ruta/\|language=Spanish\|access-date=June 2, 2021\|agency=Torre Eldorado}}
San Andrés	Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport	align=center\|

Fleet

{{As of|April 2022}}, GCA Airlines operated the following aircraft:{{cite web|title=GCA Airlines Fleet Details and History|url=https://www.planespotters.net/airline/GCA-Airlines|website=Planespotters.net|access-date=April 24, 2021}}

class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em auto; text-align:center" \|+ GCA Airlines fleet
rowspan=2\|Aircraft !rowspan=2\|In service !rowspan=2\|Orders !colspan=3\|Passengers !rowspan=2\|Notes
C !Y !Total
Boeing 737-400 \|2 \|2 \|12 \|132 \|144 \|
Fokker 50 \|3 \|— \|– \|50 \|50 \|Never entered service
Total !5 !2 !colspan=5\|

class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em auto; text-align:center"

|+ GCA Airlines fleet

rowspan=2|Aircraft

!rowspan=2|In
service

!rowspan=2|Orders

!colspan=3|Passengers

!rowspan=2|Notes

!Total

Boeing 737-400

|12

|132

|144