Avianca

Is Avianca safe?

Yes, today. Colombia's flag carrier had one of the worst records of any major airline in the 1980s: four fatal crashes, one of them a cartel bomb, killed 504 people between November 1983 and January 1990. Since flight 52 ran out of fuel near New York in 1990, Avianca has had no fatal accident and has written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary no aircraft. It now flies Airbus A320-family jets and Boeing 787s and belongs to Abra Group alongside Gol. We score it 79. The weak points are a tough domestic network and a string of serious incidents, none fatal.

The 1980s crashes

• Avianca 011, Madrid, 27 November 1983. A Boeing 747 leased from SAS hit hills on approach to Madrid-Barajas after the captain, unsure of his position, descended below the safe minimum altitudes; 181 died and 11 survived.
• Avianca 410, Cúcuta, 17 March 1988. A Boeing 727 departing visually, with no crew briefing and an extra pilot chatting in the cockpit, hit El Espartillo mountain shortly after takeoff; all 143 aboard died.
• Avianca 203, near Bogotá, 27 November 1989. A bomb placed by the Medellín cartel destroyed a 727, killing all 107 on board. This was a criminal attack, not a safety failure, and we weigh it accordingly.
• Avianca 052, New York, 25 January 1990. A 707 ran out of fuel after more than an hour in holding patterns. The crew said they were low on fuel but never used the word "emergency"; 73 of 158 died. The NTSB also faulted US traffic flow management that night.

SAM Colombia, then an Avianca subsidiary, lost a 727 near Medellín in May 1993, killing 132. The pattern behind these crashes, controlled flight into terrain and poor crew communication, is the one modern training and terrain-warning systems were built to stop, and Avianca's record since suggests it has.

Who flies your Avianca flight?

The AV code belongs to Avianca S.A., certified by Colombia's Aerocivil. Avianca Costa Rica (LR), Avianca Ecuador (2K) and Avianca El Salvador hold separate certificates, and some flights sold with AV numbers may be operated by them; check "operated by" on your booking. The 2008 crash of TACA flight 390 at Tegucigalpa, which killed five people, was flown by TACA International of El Salvador, which merged with Avianca in 2010. It does not count against Avianca's record here.

Colombia regained FAA Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary in December 2010 and still holds it. Avianca is an IATA member, which requires the IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit. Colombian accidents and serious incidents are investigated by the DIACC, which also handles the May 2025 low-fuel landing described below.

Serious incidents since 2019

• Near Barcelona, November 2019. A 787-8 sped up close to its maximum speed in descent while the captain was making an announcement. He pulled back sharply; the swing in g-force seriously injured a passenger and a flight attendant. Spain's CIAIAC blamed the pilot's handling.
• Ibagué, October 2021. An A320 on a flight to check a new approach procedure, with only crew aboard, touched down at +4.9g, went around and diverted to Bogotá. It stayed on the ground for over two months.
• Guatemala City, January 2025. An Avianca A320neo took off from runway 02 while a Copa 737-800 was going around from the same runway. ADS-B data show the two came within about 0.27 nautical miles at the same height before turning apart. Guatemala's aviation authority opened an investigation; both airlines said they had not been aware of a conflict.
• Cartagena, May 2025. Bad weather at Santa Marta and Barranquilla forced an A320 to divert twice. It landed at Cartagena after a mayday with 860 kg of fuel, below the legal minimum. Colombia's investigators rated it a serious incident.

Restructuring and fleet

Avianca filed for Chapter 11 in May 2020 and emerged on 1 December 2021. In 2022 it combined with Gol under Abra Group, and Abra took control of Gol when it left its own bankruptcy in June 2025. Avianca's passenger fleet was 161 aircraft in September 2025: 134 A320-family jets, 15 787s and 12 A330s. Abra has ordered more A320neos and seven A330neos.

How to fly Avianca safely

The domestic network is where the risk sits. Airports such as Pasto, Popayán and Ibagué sit among mountains with short runways and fast-building afternoon storms, and diversions are common. Pick morning flights to mountain airports when you can, and accept a diversion calmly: the Cartagena case shows the cost of pressing on, not of turning back.

How we scored it

No fatal accident in 36 years lifts the accident record to 88, held below the top band by the 1980s crashes. Oversight (80) and fleet (76) are sound. Serious incidents (68) and a difficult operating environment (62) cost the most points. Compare Copa, its rival through Central America.