Major Increase in Colombian Commercial Air Routes Approved

Due to increasing domestic and international demand for air travel, Aerocivil, Colombia’s civil aviation authority has announced decisions on a number of new domestic and international air routes petitioned by commercial carriers for 2015.

Lan Colombia received approvals for the following new routes:

Route and Frequency

• Barranquilla – San Andres – Barranquilla 7 weekly
• Cartagena – San Andres – Cartagena 7 weekly
• Barranquilla – Cali – Barranquilla 7 weekly
• Medellin – Barranquilla – Medellin 7 weekly
• Medellin – Cali – Medellin 7 weekly
• Cali – Santa Marta – Cali 7 weekly
• Cartagena – Medellin – Cartagena 7 weekly
• Cartagena – Pereira – Cartagena 7 weekly
• Medellin – Santa Marta – Medellin 7 weekly
• Pereira – Santa Marta – Pereira 7 weekly
• Bogota – Punta Cana – Bogota 7 weekly
• Bogota – San Jose – Bogota 7 weekly
• Bogota – San Juan – Bogota 7 weekly

EasyFly received the following authorizations:

• Bogotá – Buenaventura – Bogotá 4 weekly
• Bogota – Florencia – Bogotá 7 weekly
• Bogotá – Popayán – Bogotá 7 weekly

American Airlines requested a route between Miami and Barranquilla – Miami with seven weekly flights, which was approved.

Delta Airlines received approval for the routes Atlanta – Cartagena – Atlanta, and Atlanta – Medellin – Atlanta with three and seven weekly flights, respectively.

Iberia was authorized to fly the route Madrid – Medellin – Cali – Madrid with three weekly flights, but may not carry domestic traffic between Medellin and Cali.

Venezuelan carrier Avior Airlines received partial approval on its application submitted May 2, 2014, where he expressed interest in operating the following routes that were authorized:

• Valencia – Bogota – Valencia 7 weekly
• Valencia – Medellin – Valencia 7 weekly
• Porlamar – Medellin – Porlamar 4 weekly
• Maracaibo – Medellin – Maracaibo 3 weekly

Meanwhile, routes to Bogota from the cities of Maracaibo and Porlamar that the airline requested were not approved due to capacity limitations at Bogotá’s El Dorado airport.

Viva Colombia (Fast Colombia, S.A.S.) requested last December 19 to operate the following routes, but was not given approval, though approval is expected when the company receives two new aircraft and has additional trained crew in place:

Bogotá – Yopal – Bogota 7 weekly

Bogota – Valledupar – Bogota 7 weekly

Bogota – Armenia – Bogotá 7 weekly

Cartagena – Armenia – Armenia 7 weekly

Medellin – Armenia – Medellin 7 weekly