LATAM Airlines Colombia Restores Medellín–Cartagena Flights in January 2027

Capacity Returns to a Medellín Route Rivals Already Serve

LATAM Airlines Colombia said on November 3, 2026, that it will resume service between Medellín and Cartagena on January 1, 2027, with three daily flights in each direction on Airbus (Euronext Paris: AIR; Frankfurt: AIR; Bolsa de Madrid: AIR) A320 aircraft seating 170 passengers. The Colombian unit of LATAM Airlines Group (NYSE: LTM; Bolsa de Santiago: LTM) said the route is intended to widen travel options between two cities it called among the most relevant to the country’s economic and tourism activity. Tickets went on sale October 31, 2026, through the carrier’s own channels and through travel agencies.

The route is coming back after LATAM dropped it last year. Schedule-data publication AeroRoutes reported that the airline removed Medellín–Cartagena from its schedule on July 12, 2025, canceling the two daily flights it had filed for the 2025/26 northern winter season, and that the last flight was set for October 25, 2025. La República reported that the airline discontinued the route citing requerimientos operacionales (operational requirements).

Flights will leave Medellín at 5:40 a.m., 9:15 a.m. and 4:55 p.m., reaching Cartagena at 6:50 a.m., 10:25 a.m. and 6:05 p.m. The return legs are scheduled to depart at 7:25 a.m., 11:10 a.m. and 6:45 p.m. and to land at 8:40 a.m., 12:25 p.m. and 8 p.m. Aviation trade publication Aviacionline reported, citing the airline, that the schedule amounts to 21 weekly flights in each direction, running between José María Córdova International Airport in Rionegro, which serves Medellín, and Rafael Núñez International Airport in Cartagena.

Erika Zarante, chief executive of LATAM Airlines Colombia, said the schedule is meant to answer the needs of people traveling between the two cities for business and tourism. The airline said the operation will make it easier to connect Antioquia with the Caribbean region.

“The return of this route represents an opportunity to keep strengthening our regional connectivity and to offer more travel alternatives to our passengers.” — Erika Zarante, chief executive, LATAM Airlines Colombia

Other carriers already sell the city pair. Aviacionline put Avianca at 44 weekly flights on the route, JetSMART at 32 and Wingo at 13, without stating whether those counts are per direction. Clic is advertising seasonal Cartagena flights from Medellín between December 18, 2026, and January 18, 2027, Finance Colombia reported last month.

Javier Andrés Benítez Ríos, manager of José María Córdova International Airport, welcomed the decision and said the route is one more option for travelers to reach Cartagena and connect with the Colombian Caribbean. He added: “Our airport will be prepared, beginning in January, to receive them and to offer them our operating capacity, and we reaffirm the importance of this airline decision for strengthening the country’s air connectivity.”

Nationally, Portafolio, citing figures from the Aeronáutica Civil (Civil Aviation Authority, or Aerocivil), reported in September 2026 that Colombian airports handled 39.4 million passengers between January and August, 4.6% more than in the same period of 2025.

LATAM has been enlarging its Medellín operation. Finance Colombia reported in September 2026 that the carrier had lifted its Medellín headcount 51% to 419 and scheduled 245,554 monthly seats from the city, roughly 24% of the 1,018,234 monthly seats it offered across Colombia. The carrier also arranged for eight aircraft to stay overnight at the Rionegro airport each day, and said the base is now equipped to inspect and work on engines, landing gear and fuselages. El Colombiano reported in March 2026 that LATAM had set a goal of finishing 2026 with 30% of seats in the Colombian air market.

Headline photo: A LATAM Airlines aircraft in flight. (Photo courtesy LATAM Airlines)