Viva Air Continues Expansion With 3 New Routes From Medellín & Bogotá To Bucaramanga & Cúcuta

Despite the COVID Pandemic, Viva Air has announced two new domestic routes between its Medellín hub and Colombia’s eastern cities of Cúcuta and Bucaramanga (above photo), and one new route between Bogotá and Bucaramanga. This brings the low-cost carrier’s network to 26 domestic routes in Colombia in addition to its autonomous route network in Peru, and international flights between Colombia, Peru and the United States.

Flights to Bucaramanga begin April 6, and the flights to Cúcuta begin April 7.

The airline continues to receive new Airbus A320 & A320neo aircraft deliveries, expanding its fleet while maintaining a 93% punctuality rating. Last year as competitors Avianca & Latam fell into bankruptcy, Viva completed over 12,000 segments, carrying over 1.9 million passengers despite the pandemic and closures of Colombian airspace. The low-cost carrier captured additional market share, growing from 15% of Colombian passenger air traffic to 24%. Viva expects to carry 21,500 passengers on these two new routes in its first month of sales.

Viva Air CEO Felix Antelo (Photo credit: Loren Moss)

“Our commitment to connecting Colombia does not stop. We come from a high season with load factors above 85%, which shows that the reactivation of the domestic market is on the right track and travelers increasingly trust our Low-Cost model and biosafety protocols. That is why, as a Colombian airline, we continue to grow our route network and bet on connecting Colombia,” said Viva Air CEO Antelo.

The new routes and fares are:

• Medellín – Bucaramanga -Medellín: $59,900
• Bogotá – Bucaramanga – Bogotá: $59,900
• Medellín – Cúcuta – Medellín: $89,900

“The announcement of three new routes, even in times of reactivation, show our efforts to continue promoting tourism, business generation and economic development in the region,” said Antelo. With these new routes, there are now nine nonstop destinations that Viva Air flies from Medellín, including international routes to Miami, Florida & Lima, Peru. Viva Air says that it estimates these new routes on their low cost model will bring down all fare prices between these destinations between 20-40%, a phenomenon they call the “Viva Effect.”

Bucaramanga skyline photo credit: Loren Moss