Latam Colombia carried 1.7 million passengers in Q3, exceeding pre-pandemic figures

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – During the third quarter of 2021, airline Latam Colombia exceeded the number of passengers carried in the same period of 2019, with a total of 1,742,988 passengers transported between the 15 destinations and 25 domestic routes that the company manages in the country.

With these results, the Colombian market remains one of the key countries in the Latam Airlines Group’s strategy, with a trend that has continued to rise in recent months, according to the firm.

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“Today we are more competitive, and we offer more direct and convenient options to our passengers. The results prove it, and that is why we celebrate exceeding the number of passengers mobilized during the third quarter of the year, compared to the results we registered in 2019,” said Santiago Álvarez, executive director of Latam Colombia.

And he added that “it is not only an excellent indicator of the market recovery but also of the results of our growth plan projected for the second semester with which we seek to take advantage of the clear opportunities generated by the reconfiguration of the local market.”

The improvements in sanitary conditions in the face of the decrease in the number of infections by Covid-19 and the advance of the vaccination process increased mobility in the country. They facilitated the recovery of the local industry in a more accelerated way than other countries of the region.

These conditions, according to Latam, together with the reconfiguration of the local market, have generated a unique growth opportunity for the Group in the domestic market.

Meanwhile, destinations such as Medellín and Santa Marta are the ones with the most significant recovery. In the case of Medellín, the route to and from Santa Marta stands out, which mobilized 288% and 262% of pre-school passengers, respectively.

For their part, routes such as Cartagena-Cali and Pereira-Bogotá mobilized 139% and 132% of the passengers transported in the same period of 2019.

Other routes that presented superior performance to those achieved during the third pre-pandemic quarter were Barranquilla – Medellín with 128%, Cali – Cartagena with 125%, and Bogotá – Pereira with 121%.

The new routes were inaugurated during the first half of 2021, which seek to decentralize the Bogotá operation from Cali (Cali-Barranquilla, Cali-Medellín, Cali- Santa Marta), mobilized more than 118 thousand passengers.

Those that departed from Medellín (Medellín-Bucaramanga, Medellín-Cúcuta and Medellín-Montería), transported more than 55 thousand passengers.

On the other hand, the Bogotá-Pasto route has maintained positive results since its launch. The Bogotá-Armenia route has mobilized more than 24 thousand passengers since its inauguration in June.

“The results for the third quarter are positive and the routes inaugurated this year have contributed to boosting the market offer, mainly benefiting passengers who today have a broader and more competitive offer leveraged by Latam’s strategy in the country,” he said.