UPS has taken a major step to expanding its presence in Colombia through a strategic alliance withDeprisa, the courier, parcels and cargo unit of national airline AviancaTaca.
Under the deal, which was signed at the end of last week, Deprisa will market UPS productsand services to its customer base across the country. In particular, it will offer internationalexpress services to more than 220 countries and territories through the worldwide UPS network. Itwill also become the exclusive distribution partner for UPS in Colombia.
Besides offering global coverage, the joint Deprisa-UPS operation seeks to offer customersgreater reliability, opportunities, quality and new international products supported by thedelivery compliance guarantee programme. The two companies aim for leadership of the Colombianinternational express market.
AviancaTaca Executive President, Fabio Villegas Ramirez, said: “The Deprisa-UPS alliance is astrategic step in our goal of providing a superior courier service to customers in Colombia andabroad that require an efficient service before, during and after shipments. Our goal is to offerreliable and time-definite deliveries. With the support of UPS – one of the most important couriersin the world – we hope to increase our participation in the domestic and international expresscourier markets.”
Camilo Angarita, General Manager of UPS Colombia, added: “This new relationship with Deprisawill make the UPS capabilities in the country even stronger. Colombia is a strategic market for UPSand this alliance demonstrates our commitment to providing local businesses unrivalled access tointernational markets.”
UPS has been present in Colombia since 1989 and has grown to 32 outlets in the country withsome 410 workers and contractors.
Deprisa has access to 59 Avianca planes, including several A330s and B767s, a fleet of 165modern ground trucks fitted with GPS monitoring systems, plus 370 specialised motor couriers acrossthe country, guaranteeing faster shipment collection and distribution. The business unit, with over2,300 employees, has more than 600 sales points in Colombia and a customer base of more than 8,000corporate customers. It carries some 10 million domestic and international shipments and hadrevenues of $70 million last year.
AviancaTaca is the holding company for Avianca, the well-known Colombian airline, and TacaAirlines, the Central American airline group, which merged in 2010. The airlines jointly have morethan 3,400 weekly flights to more than 100 destinations in 25 countries, mostly in the Americas,operating through hubs in Bogota, San Salvador, San José and Lima. In future, the group aims to addroutes to Europe and expand in Peru and Ecuador, and will modernise its fleet with new long-haulB787s.
