By Luis Jaime Acosta

BOGOTA Colombia's state-owned airline Satena will invest $80 million to expand and modernize its fleet, with plans to buy short and medium-range aircraft able to land at smaller airports that are not accessible to larger planes, the airline's boss said.

Satena is eyeing purchases of eight new twin-engined planes that can carry 19 passengers, General Oscar Zuluaga, the high-ranking air force official who runs the airline, said in an interview late on Wednesday afternoon.

"The capitalization is seen at $80 million," Zuluaga said, adding the purchases "will allow us greater mobility, generate growth and, above all, bring hope to the most remote regions."

Satena generated losses of 2 billion pesos ($506,000) last year, Zuluaga said, adding the airline hopes to reach break even in the short term, despite difficulties in the aviation sector.

The airline, which began serving an international route to Venezuela's capital Caracas from Colombia's Bogota in March, is seeking to grow the number of passengers it carries in 2023 by around 200,000 to 1.2 million versus last year.

Satena is also looking to acquire planes with 48 seats to continue expanding into new routes and markets to guarantee the company's sustainability, the general said.

More international routes could even take Satena to cities in neighbors such as Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, Zuluaga added.

($1 = 3,951.1 Colombian pesos)

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Sharon Singleton)