Colombian low-cost airline Viva Air has selected Stephen Rapp to head its Peruvian subsidiary.

Colombian low-cost airline Viva Air has selected Stephen Rapp to head its Peruvian subsidiary.

“After two years we have reached a market share of 11%, allowing many Peruvians to travel by air for the first time,” states Rapp. “It is a great challenge for me to take the ‘Viva Air effect’ to all our destinations and to continue democratising air travel.”

Rapp arrives in Lima at a particularly challenging time for the nation’s airline market, after Avianca Peru abandoned local routes, LC Peru went into liquidation and, most recently, the country’s second-largest airline Peruvian was grounded over financial problems.

This situation has converted Latam Peru into the market leader, challenged only by Viva and the local subsidiary of Chilean low-cost carrier Sky Airline.

Rapp, a UK citizen who started his airline career at Spanish low-cost airline Vueling, most recently held the position of chief financial officer and deputy chief executive of Irelandia-controlled Viva Air Colombia.

In his new role he replaces Eduardo Fairen, another former Vueling executive, who had been at Viva Air Peru’s helm since January 2018.