JetSMART plans acquisition of Ultra Air

Low-cost carrier JetSMART from Chile has announced it has signed a Letter of Understanding with Ultra Air from Colombia to acquire 100% of the shares and merge the company into JetSMART. The planned acquisition comes after JetSMART earlier tried to buy now defunct Viva Air to boost its position as low-cost carrier in Latin America.

In the coming month, the Chilean carrier will conduct due diligence on Ultra Air's financial and technical data and also work on securing approval from the necessary regulatory authorities.

JetSMART was founded in 2016 and is part of the group of Indigo Partners-backed and owned low-cost carriers. Other airlines in this group are Frontier Airlines, Wizz Air, and Volaris. The company operates a fleet of eleven Airbus A320s (eight of these operated by JetSMART Argentina), nine A320neos, and four A321neos. It has it's main bases at Santiago and Buenos Aires.

Ultra Air was launched in 2020 and is currently flying with a fleet of six A320s out of its main base at Medellin.

Photo by SMBC Aviation Capital.