New Discount Airline Wingo Completes Its First Colombian Flight

Colombia’s new discount airline Wingo completed its first flight yesterday morning and capped off the trip with a ceremonial christening. The flight took off from Rafael Núñez International Airport in Cartagena before touching down at Panamá Pacífico International Airport in the city of Balboa in Panama.

In October, Wingo announced that it would begin operating in Colombia as another lower-cost airline in the country in addition to VivaColombia, Easy Fly, and Satena, the state-controlled carrier that specializes in flights to remote areas of the country. Combined, they will all put some price pressure on the dominant players Avianca, LATAM (formerly LAN Colombia), and Copa Airlines.

The ceremonial water bath was attended by several tourism and transportation officials in Panama, including: Gustavo Him, administrator of Panama’s Tourism Authority, Rosa Muńoz, director of the Panama Pacifico International Airport, Leo Ángel González, administrator of the Panama Pacific Agency, and Joseph Fidan, general manager of the nearby Tocumen International Airport.

¡Nuestro bautizo de agua en Panamá!✈?? #WingoDespega pic.twitter.com/UvtPp7OFEt

— Wingo (@wingo) December 1, 2016

The Cartagena-to-Panama flight is one of 12 international routes, along with five domestic routes, for the Colombia-based Wingo, which is starting off operations with four Boeing 737-700s from its parent company Copa Airlines. Each has a fully economy class configuration with 142 seats.

Early on, the domestic coverage will consist of connecting nation’s biggest cities to the Colombian island San Andrés, which sits in the Caribbean off the coast of Nicaragua.

Wingo’s first flight, from Cartagena to Panama, had a welcoming party ready when it landed. (Credit: Panama Pacific Agency)

These following are the routes that are operating so far.

Domestic

• Bogotá to Cartagena
• Bogotá to San Andrés
• Cartagena to San Andrés
• Barranquilla to San Andrés
• Cali to San Andrés

International

• Bogotá to Panama City
• Bogotá to Mexico City
• Bogotá to Quito, Ecuador
• Bogotá to Caracas, Venezuela
• Bogotá to Havana, Cuba
• Bogotá to Cancún, Mexico
• Bogotá to Aruba
• Bogotá to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
• Medellín to Panama City
• Cali to Panama City
• Panama City to San Jose, Costa Rica
• San Jose to Guatemala City

Main photo credit: Wingo