Colombia makes progress in restoring its international air links

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – One year after the reopening of the skies in the country, 62% of the seats and 60% of the international frequencies that were registered before the pandemic have been recovered. This was reported by the Colombian Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism.

Similarly, 12 airlines have announced the entry into operation of 31 new international air routes, of which, as of September 2021, 19 have been inaugurated. This figure exceeds that recorded in 2019 when 17 new air connections entered into operation before the pandemic.

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These figures mean that the country is now more connected to the world and on course for the recovery of the air sector, making Colombia an attractive airline market.

“More and more airlines are betting on the Colombian market. So far in 2021 two Mexican airlines have arrived and landed for the first time in South America and at least a dozen more are increasing their capacity in number of frequencies and routes. We already have 22 airlines operating in the country, connecting eight Colombian cities with 24 countries, meaning that we have already recovered 88% of the markets with which the country was connected in 2019,” said María Ximena Lombana, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism.

In 2021, Mexican carriers Viva Aerobus and Volaris arrived in the country, while Air Canada, American Airlines, VIVA, JetSMART, Spirit and Copa are increasing their frequencies and new routes in Colombia.

In turn, the country has launched connections with Punta Cana (Dominican Republic); New York, Orlando, Newark (United States); Cancun, Mexico City (Mexico); Lima (Peru), and also Montreal (Canada), and Santiago (Chile), although the latter is suspended and pending reactivation before the end of the year.

On his part, Jair Orlando Fajardo Fajardo, general director of the Civil Aeronautics Board, added “Since the economic reactivation began, we have transported more than 21 million passengers. So far this year, we have mobilized 17 million passengers, of which 4 million correspond to international trips, thus showing a positive balance to the reactivation.”

As for Europe, Iberia, Air Europa, Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa, Avianca, Air France, and KLM have resumed their routes so that the country now has more than 40 air frequencies to the old continent with more than 12,000 seats available, which represents a recovery of 45% of the seats on offer before the pandemic.