Satena, the Colombian state-owned airline that Petro wants to take to the world

The state-owned airline founded in 1962 may be reborn with the help of Gustavo Petro’s government, which dreams of flying “to all parts of the world where it is possible”.

The airline is already commercializing flights between Bogota and Caracas, which it will operate from March.

The relaunching of relations between Colombia and Venezuela favored by Gustavo Petro correlated with the rebirth of a former Colombian state-owned company: Satena, a state-owned airline born in 1962, which promises to add new international destinations in the coming months.

Since the first dialogues between Petro and Nicolás Maduro governments, the possibility of resuming direct flights between Bogotá and Caracas appeared to be a priority to normalize commercial and tourist links.

While Avianca, Colombia’s largest private airline, and Wingo, a low-cost airline owned by Panama’s Copa, were analyzing the moment to resume the route, the state-owned Satena took the lead in this race.

Thus, on November 9, 2022, Satena completed the first flight between Bogota and Caracas in two years.

The itinerary was carried out in an Embraer ERJ145 aircraft with a capacity for 50 passengers, which landed at the Simón Bolívar de Maiquetía International Airport in the state of La Guaira (north).

After that kick-off, Satena continued to schedule some charter flights but did not open commercial flights until February 13, when it launched ticket sales for the new Bogota-Caracas frequency “nonstop and without waiting”, as promoted by the state-owned airline.

Indeed, as of March 3, 2023, Colombians can travel to the Venezuelan capital on two weekly flights – every Tuesday and every Friday – of just over 2 hours.

Already on sale on the airline’s website, tickets are marketed at US$256 each way.

“Fulfilling the promise of transforming Satena into an international airline, from this Friday, March 3, two routes to Venezuela start operating. Soon other destinations in Latin America”, celebrated Petro on his Twitter account.

In parallel to the reconnection with Venezuela, the Colombian president had announced in November 2022 his intention for Satena “to play an active role in the industrialization of the country” and even “to develop fully both in the national and international field as an aviation airline”.

For Petro, the ideal is that Satena fulfills the national destinations it has been assigned since its birth but also flies “to all parts of the world where it is possible”.

International flights would allow, according to Petro, to give the state airline profits that are not currently provided by trips within Colombia since the company is dedicated to fulfilling the less profitable destinations that private airlines do not reach.

In the Colombian president’s opinion, Satena must compete with the private sector in Colombia and the region.

Born in 1962, Satena has been managed by the Colombian Air Force. It currently flies to 37 destinations within Colombia.

With information from Sputnik