AvGroup LLC: ``A Success Story in Progress''
Tuesday September 10, 4:48 pm ET
MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 10, 2002--AvGroup CEO Guy Booth announced
today that the company has been retained by Lloyd Aereo Boliviano to provide
assistance to the airline in their on-going restructuring efforts and to
help implement LAB's business plan and develop new strategies in operations
and marketing.
Booth said: "It is very exciting to be a part of LAB's renaissance as they
are one of South America's oldest airlines and we are pleased to be a part
of the new management team. We feel that the AvGroup team of experienced
airline and financial executives are a good fit for the restructuring effort
underway at LAB."
In less than a year after aggressive Bolivian entrepreneur Ernesto "Tito"
Asbun acquired control and management of Lloyd Aereo Boliviano (LAB), the
77-year-old carrier is turning completely around after five years of
management by absentee shareholders, Brazil's Vasp.
A hands-on executive, Asbun started by cleaning up LAB's finances, making
peace with labor unions and getting government support on new routes and
frequencies. Turning next to fleet expansion and renewal, in his brief
tenure Asbun has increased LAB's fleet from five operating aircraft to ten.
Five more state-of-the-art aircraft will soon join LAB. They include two
B767-300ERs and two B727-200s (one of them a freighter) leased from Pegasus
and the return of the A310 from ILFC with new financing and an extended
financial lease. Asbun has also successfully negotiated the sale and
leaseback of its owned B737-300 with Pegasus.
As its fleet expands, so will routes and frequencies. Besides domestic
routes in Bolivia, LAB is now operating long-haul flights to Buenos Aires,
today a prime low-cost vacation destination for Bolivians, plus Miami,
Mexico City and Cancun. Long-term plans include more destinations in Latin
America, the U.S. and Europe. Priority is being given to air cargo using its
lower deck cargo capacity on the new B767-300s and its B727-200 freighter,
based at its Santa Cruz hub.
The AvGroup companies consist of Aviation Management Services (AvMan), a
full service aviation and travel consulting firm formed in 1988 to provide
managerial and technical support to the aviation and travel industry with a
primary focus on Latin America. Aviation News, Latin American & the
Caribbean (AvNews) is the publisher of the Aviation-Latin American & the
Caribbean Newsletter and Organizer since 1992 of the Annual International
Airline CEO Conference and Aviation Web Integrated Technology (AvWit), a
provider of integrated systems, application services and technical
assistance for system integration.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
AvGroup, LLC, Miami
John H. Jackson, 305/870-7546
Fax: 305/876-9325
e-mail: jack@avman.com
http://www.avgroupllc.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: AvGroup LLC
_________________________________________________________________
MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos:
http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx