The Latin American air freight market, valued at $1.04 billion USD in 2025, is projected to experience sustained growth, driven by expanding e-commerce, increasing cross-border trade, including inter-Latin American trade. Key growth drivers include the rising demand for more reliable and quick turnaround delivery services, particularly for perishable goods and high-value products.

Global air cargo demand rose by 3.4% in 2025 compared with the previous year, according to data released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

At the same time, total capacity, measured in available cargo ton-kilometers (ACTK), increased by 3.7% year on year. For international operations, demand rose by 4.2%, while capacity increased by 5.1%.

Latin America Air Freight Industry Concentration & Characteristics

The Latin American air freight industry has been defined by a moderate level of concentration, with a few large global players dominating but now also including several significant regional carriers. While FedEx, UPS, and DHL hold substantial market share, particularly in international freight, regional players like LATAM Cargo, Avianca Cargo (Tampa Air), and Aeromexico maintain strong positions in domestic and regional routes.

Other leading players in the Latin American airfreight industry include IAG Cargo (UK), Copa Airlines (Panama), American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Azul Cargo Express (Brazil) and Emirates Skycargo.

Nicholas Sutherland’s opinions and claims are his own, and not necessarily those of Finance Colombia.

Regional Growth Drivers

• E-commerce explosion – Same-day and next-day service expectations are migrating south, driving express integrators to expand cargo terminals in Latin America and sign block-space agreements with regional carriers.
• Perishables dominance – Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile collectively ship more than 1.5 million tons of flowers, fruit, seafood, and pharma each year—commodities that depend on airport infrastructure for freight with reliable 2-8 °C corridors.
• Pharmaceuticals – Colombia, Mexico and Brazil stand out as not only having large national companies, but also some of the largest pharma companies in the world have factories in these countries.

Electronics, jewelry, auto parts, specialized machine parts, and high-value textiles are also driving increased traffic.

Latin America’s Hub Status

For years, Latin America has been spoken of primarily as a supplier, a hub for perishables, electronics, and auto parts feeding the U.S. and Europe. Fast forward to 2025 and something is unmistakably clear: the region is no longer merely sourcing for the world. It is becoming one of the most strategically viable air cargo growth engines, driven by nearshoring, rising consumer markets, and accelerated infrastructure investment.

Leading Locations

Mexico

 Since 2023 the Felipe Ángeles International Airport, also within the Greater Metropolitan Area of Mexico City, has now surpassed the Benito Juarez airport for air cargo with 2025 figures showing 413,224 metric tons in air cargo traffic.

The International Airport of Mexico City, known officially as Benito Juárez International Airport, stands out as the largest airport in the country and is now the second busiest air cargo hub in Mexico and number three in the LATAM region. The figures underline the importance of this hub. In January 2022, the air terminal managed a total of 41,650 tons. In 2023, this number rose to 47,206.8 tons, reflecting an important increase of 5,556.8 tons. It is important to mention that this airport also acts as a center of operations and connections (HUB) for the Mexican airline Aeroméxico, further strengthening its strategic position in the airport and logistics scenario in the region.

The International Airport of Cancun (CUN), located in the Mexican Caribbean, is a major hub in cargo handling in Latin America. With leading-edge facilities and advanced systems for the processing of goods, the airport handles a diversity of products, including consumer goods, textiles, electronic parts and pharmaceutical products. Its strategic location makes it crucial for trade routes between North America, Latin America and Europe and it has undergone constant growth in its volume of cargo.

Colombia

El Dorado International Airport is in Colombia’s capital city, Bogotá, and stands out as the third most important airport in Latin America in terms of freight volume. It registered a 2024 throughput of 809,00 tons, with flowers, perishables and pharma being the main categories.

Colombia has consolidated its position as a world leader in the export of a wide range of products, including products derived from agriculture, foodstuffs and chemical products. The airport has also been consolidated as the center of strategic operations (HUB) for international airline, Avianca.

Two 3,800 m runways at 8,360 ft elevation make BOG a purpose-built wide-body freighter hub. Cargo airlines position here to bridge east-west schedules across the Caribbean, giving forwarders same-night connections into MIA, AMS, and DOH.

Panama

Tocumen International Airport (PTY), Panamá City handled 216,653 tons in 2024 (a 4% increase over 2023). PTY sits astride the Colón Free Zone and the Panamá Canal rail link; a third runway is budgeted for development in 2027 to future-proof capacity.

A new development project called “Tocumen Cargo City”, with an area of 124 hectares, which includes the concession for the development of the cargo terminal and logistics zone, was announced in 2024. This project will take advantage of Tocumen’s competitive advantages as the region’s main air hub that connects daily more than 80 commercial destinations, and more than 50 air cargo destinations integrating a multimodal axis with the country’s maritime and land transport operations,

 Peru

Jorge Chávez International Airport is in the region of Callao, outside of the metropolitan area of Lima (Peru). It stands out as the center of operations and connections for LATAM Airlines.

In 2023 the airport handled 230,993 tons of air freight. The largest quantities of air export products were fresh asparagus, blueberries, salmon and other seafood. In 2024, the airport also added another runway and a new passenger terminal with an adjoining logistics park.

Brazil

São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) had a throughput of 235,600 tons in 2024. Air-sea multimodality is boosted by a 90-minute drive to the Port of Santos. Automotive, machinery, pharma cold-chain (largest airport cool-store in Brazil) are the highest categories of products.

Campinas Viracopos (VCP) airport, in Sao Paulo state (not the city) handles roughly one-third of Brazil’s imported air freight and was voted 2024 Cargo Airport of the Year by routesonline.com . It boasts a 90,000 m² cargo terminal with 11 dedicated cold rooms and a live-animal zone.

 Looking Forward

Governments are aware that there is now fierce rivalry to attract air cargo logistics operations and several have identified the sector as a key segment which would improve the competitiveness of their economies and stimulate economic growth and create skilled employment opportunities. Integration of air cargo, ports, incentives and free zones have become a cornerstone for attracting logistics and manufacturing companies.

Cargo airports in Latin America are writing the next chapter in hemispheric logistics. For independent freight forwarders, and other investors, these hubs are not just transit points, they are strategic pivot points to shorten lead times, diversify modal risk, and command premium margins in niche verticals. Airports are emerging as focal points in this new logistics landscape. Policy support, geography, and international partnerships are essential to attracting international operators and service providers.

Several countries have made successful initiatives to increase investment in the multimodal logistics space including the Dominican Republic, El Salvador (with a focus on increasing Maintenance Repair and Overhaul operations) Ecuador and La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala becoming a major hub, with LAATS, a Guatemalan logistics and freight company, managing all regular cargo flights there.

Attracting Investment in the Caribbean

For countries in the Caribbean to consider becoming air cargo logistics locations, they require international operators to view them as viable long-term locations, therefore several factors need to be considered.

Cold-Chain certification is a cornerstone for diversified airfreight operations. Pharma shippers demand IATA CEIV or WHO GDP accreditation. GRU, VCP, and LIM all hold multiple certifications, allowing forwarders to move temperature-controlled cargo without auxiliary containers significant cost saving.

Customs & Free-Zone Synergy have been the defining characteristics of a country’s success. Many airports interface directly with bonded zones or inland ports. Panama’s Tocumen International Airport’s on-airport logistics park and Panama Pacifico free zone cut transfer times by 24 hours compared with off-site warehousing.

Customs Harmonization and Focused Incentives

Caribbean countries must consider integration of the electronic DUCA-F, a fundamental document for the export of products originating in a Central American country to other countries in the region, within the framework of current trade agreements. It integrates and connects the customs systems of the six countries that make up the Central American region. This interconnection significantly improves customs controls, allowing for the automatic validation of declared data and real-time verification of approvals issued by the single windows and customs authorities of each country.

Airports may waive or discount landing fees for 1–2 years to attract new carriers or new routes. Sao Paulo’s Viracopos International Airport in Brazil runs an incentive program for cargo carriers as it looks to strengthen international hub’s cargo activities. The program aims to develop Viracopos as an international cargo hub, and the gateway’s operator – Aeroportos Brasil Viracopos – wants to increase the number of international flight routes and cargo frequencies. Some of these incentives include 100% exemption of landing fees for operations at the airport’s cargo terminal for the first 24 months of a carrier’s cargo operation.

Like landing fees, building rents can be discounted for air cargo carriers. For example, St. Louis International Airport offers 18 months of waived terminal building rents and landing fees for new transoceanic service and related logistics. Income tax exemptions for the first four (4) years of operation and reduced tax rates (sub 10%) for air cargo-related logistics operations are other ways to compete with nearshore rival locations. Income tax exemptions on rental for developers are essential for infrastructure development. These exemptions can be for twenty years, combined with a reduced tax rate for the following years.

Several Caribbean countries have declared intentions to compete for investment in air logistics, however very few (except for the Dominican Republic) have made it a priority with an accompanying tactical and focused execution plan. Caribbean countries who wish to position themselves as an air cargo hub need to have feasibility studies done by internationally recognized logistics companies along with a well-defined plan for what reasonable short-term and long-term success looks like. It’s also essential to have a realistic outlook of what each country can offer, rival strengths and incentives and a clear understanding of any deficiencies which may pose headwinds to their stated goals.

The redesign focused on increasing capacity and integrating elements of Colombian culture, as well as advancing the airline’s sustainability objectives.

“With this renovation, we aim for passengers to experience a space designed to meet their travel needs. Each area is conceived to reflect what we are: an evolving airline connected to its environment,” stated Erika Zarante, CEO of LATAM Airlines Colombia.

The renovation included structural and material changes intended to optimize the passenger experience. Key design elements include translucent metal dividers, influenced by the design of the Santiago de Chile lounge, a copper curtain, an artisanal piece crafted by Colombian artist Lizarazo, was retained from the previous design, serving as an exercise in aesthetic continuity and sustainability. Additionally, local artisans crafted the palm-woven Iraca lamps, which the airline states is a commitment to local production.

Approximately 70% of the seating and furnishings were updated for improved comfort, including the co-working areas, via a materials reutilization process. The facility also incorporated new motion-sensor faucets and other materials with a low environmental impact. A metallic structure lamp, weighing an estimated 400 kilograms, was installed over the buffet area, positioning the space as a central feature of the lounge. The redesign provided an unobstructed view of the runway for departing passengers.

The lounge’s food and beverage program was also updated to align with Colombian culinary traditions. The menu rotates every two weeks and features regional dishes such as calentado, carne con salsa cartagenera, aborrajados, and volcán de arequipe. A separate “Coffee Break” space is dedicated exclusively to the country’s coffee production. During peak hours, an exclusive offering, including gourmet meatballs and omelets, is available to passengers.

The lounge has been positioned by the airline as a leader in waste management within the group’s network. It currently reports an 88% recycling rate, with 12% of its total waste directed to landfills. The facility accommodates an average daily demand of 700 to 800 passengers, with future plans to evolve toward a multi-space format similar to the airline’s Signature lounges in Santiago, Lima, and Miami.

The renovation follows a period of growth for the carrier’s Colombian subsidiary. During the third quarter of 2025, LATAM Airlines Colombia transported an estimated 7.9 million passengers across its 18 domestic and seven international routes.

In the cargo sector, the company reported a 43% market share, moving 99.5 tons internationally and 22.7 kilotons domestically. The loyalty program, LATAM Pass, continues to expand its base, reporting 4 million active members.

With the support of the District Development Plan ‘Bogotá Camina Segura’ and the ‘Bogotá Airport City’ program, the strategy is presented as a high-impact initiative to consolidate the Colombian capital as a mandatory transit destination in Latin America. The proposal is to allow international travelers who connect in Bogotá to stay up to 24 hours at no additional cost on their air ticket and take advantage of their stopover to get to know the best of the city with special offers on hotels, city tours, restaurants and tourist packages offered by local travel agencies through the Visitbogota.co website.

With this initiative, Bogotá is joining a global trend – known as  a “Stopover” – that has now been successfully adopted by capitals such as Lisbon, Dubai, and Istanbul, nearby Panamá City, among others. “With Stopover Bogotá, we are looking for more travelers to take advantage of their stopover to discover our city, enjoy its diversity, and take away a story that inspires them to return. We want a stopover to become a tour of Candelaria, a lunch with an ajiaco flavor, an afternoon in Monserrate, or a night enjoying the culture of Bogotá. What was once wasted time, today can be an experience that energizes the economy and strengthens the image of the city,” said the Director of the Bogotá Tourism Office, Andrés Santamaría.

Why Bogotá?

El Dorado International Airport, with more than 355,000 flights operated and 45 million passengers mobilized in 2024, is one of the main air connectivity hubs in Latin America. Flights take off and land from its runways to 57 international destinations and 45 domestic destinations, making it a strategic hub between South America, North America, and Europe. However, according to data from the 2024 Great Traveler Survey of the District Tourism Observatory, 95% of international passengers in transit do not leave the airport. With Stopover Bogotá, the city seeks to reverse this trend, encouraging express stays that boost the local economy, strengthen the image of Bogotá as a destination, and increase tourist spending per visitor.

In 2024, Bogotá received more than 14 million visitors, of whom 1,871,956 were international tourists, evidencing a growth of 8.7% compared to 2023. Tourism generated about 7 billion pesos and more than 106,000 jobs per month, consolidating itself as a key economic engine for the city. Hotel occupancy reached an average of 61.4% and the daily expenditure of an international tourist was approximately $100 USD.

Stopover Bogotá: a city experience for up to 24 hours

Through packages designed by certified local operators, travelers will be able to enjoy tours such as:

• Bogotá in 24 hours: visit to the historic center, museums, gastronomy, and shopping.
• Flavors of the capital: experience in market squares and local restaurants.
• Bogotá in nature: routes through the hills, gardens, and green spaces within the city.

Each experience seeks to show that Bogotá is not just a point of passage, but a city that you fall in love with from the first moment. Tourists will be able to find the offer of special discounts offered by the city on the official tourism portal Visitbogota.co.
With this strategy, Bogotá’s Tourism Office that at least 472,000 passengers will opt for the Bogotá Stopover between July 2025 and December 2026, generating revenues in the order of $40 million dollars in tourism spending alone. Likewise, airport tax revenues are estimated to exceed $21.2 million dollars.

Avianca, the partner airline of Stopover Bogotá

Avianca, the airline with the most complete route network in Colombia and one of the largest in the region, will be the partner of the Stopover Bogotá program. Today, the company connects the Colombian capital with more than 40 international destinations and more than 20 national destinations. Every day, it operates more than 240 flights to and from El Dorado International Airport, transporting more than 32,000 passengers, of whom approximately 18,000 travels in connection via Bogotá, which reflects a city that has become a hub par excellence.

In its initial phase, and through Avianca’s route network, the strategy will be focused on seven priority markets: Lima, Madrid, Miami, Guayaquil, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and São Paulo. The District Institute of Tourism will carry out an international promotion strategy. With this initiative, the office expects that by the second half of 202,5, the total number of travelers departing from the airport will be close to 72,000, generating an impact on the local economy of more than 6 million dollars.

“At Avianca, we have been connecting Bogotá, which is our home, with Colombia and the world for more than 105 years. For this reason, it is an honor for us to be part of projects such as Stopover Bogotá, which are essential to lay the foundations for the future of the city with tourism as the axis of development, so that those who have a stopover in the city see the immense attraction it has and want to explore it, while waiting for their next flight. For this to become a reality, it will be essential to continue working with all actors so that El Dorado International Airport has efficient processes on the air and ground side, and thus support the economic development of the capital,” said Frederico Pedreira, CEO of Avianca.

Airbus-A320. Photo credit: Avianca.

Drill hole MEC-2 at the ME target intersected a high-grade vein system, with assay results including 0.65 meters grading 534.0 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 40 g/t silver from 274.5 meters downhole, and 0.90 meters grading 47.2 g/t gold from 291.8 meters downhole. The company has interpreted this intersection as high-grade vein leakage from a larger, mineralized breccia body.

Figure 1: Plan View of the Guayabales Project Highlighting Northwest and East-West Mineralized Structures, Greenfield Targets Generated to Date and their Respective Locations from the Multi-Million Ounce Marmato Mine (CNW Group/Collective Mining Ltd.)

Following the initial results from a new gravimetric survey, drilling on hole MEC-3 at the ME target was halted due to the hole’s trajectory being outside an identified gravity high. Collective Mining has recommenced drilling at the ME target, focusing on the gravity high.

The gravimetric survey was conducted over a two-square-kilometer area of the Guayabales Project, encompassing the corridor extending from the Apollo system to the concession boundary of Aris Mining’s (TSX: ARIS) (NYSE-A: ARMN) Marmato mine. The survey’s effectiveness in identifying the Apollo system as a gravity-high, attributed to its concentration of breccia-hosted sulfides, supported its application to other areas.

The survey has identified seven new gravity anomalies with gravimetric features similar to Apollo. These include Apollo South, located southwest of Apollo; three anomalies within the ME target area; one in the X target area; and two in the Plutus target area. These new targets are characterized by gravity highs that originate at or near the surface and extend vertically to the survey’s depth limit.

Diamond drilling with two rigs has commenced to test the ME and X gravimetric high anomalies. Additional drilling is planned for the remaining gravity targets. The Apollo South anomaly, located 250 meters southwest of the Apollo system, is identified as a potential extension of the Apollo system. The X gravity anomaly, situated 1 kilometer south of Apollo, is slated for a maiden drill program targeting an outcropping mineralized breccia body.

Figure 2: Zoomed-in Plan View Highlighting the Seven New Gravimetric Anomalies and Assay Results for the High-Grade Vein System Discovered at the ME Target (CNW Group/Collective Mining Ltd.)

The ME and ME South gravity anomalies, located between 0.6 and 1 kilometer southeast of Apollo, are currently undergoing drilling at the ME anomaly. The Plutus 1 and 2 gravity anomalies, located up to 1 kilometer east of Apollo, are described as large and undrilled, with the Plutus 1 anomaly exhibiting continuity over 700 vertical meters. Previous surface sampling in the Plutus area indicated quartz diorite-hosted gold-copper porphyry mineralization.

Collective Mining currently operates nine drill rigs, with seven assigned to the Guayabales Project and two to the San Antonio Project, as part of its 70,000-meter drill program for 2025. Two additional deep-capacity rigs are being mobilized to the Guayabales Project to resume testing of the Ramp Zone within the Apollo system in Q3 2025. Approximately 128,000 meters of diamond drilling have been completed at the Guayabales Project to date, including 90,000 meters at Apollo. Assay results for 29 drill holes are currently pending.

Figure 3: Section along Apollo, Highlighting the New South Apollo Anomaly Only 250 Metres from the Company’s Flagship Apollo System (CNW Group/Collective Mining Ltd.)

The company’s exploration strategy includes increasing the grade of the Apollo system through systematic drill testing of new sub-zones, expanding the Apollo system along strike and depth, and drilling less advanced or newly generated targets. The San Antonio Project also has an ongoing drilling campaign targeting a bulk-tonnage porphyry system.

Technical Details

Diamond drill hole MEC-2 was drilled northeast from Pad ME3, targeting a high-grade geochemical signature identified at the surface. The hole intersected a new high-grade vein system within porphyry quartz diorite and diorite, exhibiting crackle and brecciated textures with sulfides including chalcopyrite, pyrite, sphalerite, and galena.

Figure 4: Section along the X Target Highlighting the New Gravity Anomaly Generated by the Survey (CNW Group/Collective Mining Ltd.)

The gravimetric geophysical program was executed by ARCE GEOFISICOS SAC in June 2025, covering 2 square kilometers with 414 stations on a 50-meter east-west by 100-meter north-south grid. The program aimed to detect high-density sulfide-bearing bodies similar to Apollo to a maximum depth of 800 meters. The method measures variations in the Earth’s gravitational field to identify anomalies associated with density changes in subsurface rocks.

Sample preparation and analysis were conducted at ALS laboratory facilities in Medellín, Colombia, and Lima, Peru. The company employs a quality assurance/quality control program, including the insertion of blanks, duplicates, and certified reference standards into the sample stream. True widths are estimated to be between 60% and 95%, and grades are uncut.

Table 1: Assay Results for Drill Holes MEC-2

The Tower target area, where three diamond drill holes were previously completed, did not encounter significant mineralization and is located in a gravity low according to the recent survey. Consequently, the Tower target has been deprioritized, and no further drilling is planned.

Figure 5: Section along Both the ME and ME South Anomalies Highlighting Three Large, Undrilled Gravimetric High Bodies (CNW Group/Collective Mining Ltd.)

]]> https://www.financecolombia.com/interview-how-a-medellin-area-tech-firm-is-helping-its-global-clients-compete-with-ai-data-science/ Mon, 26 May 2025 21:03:11 +0000 https://www.financecolombia.com/?p=34254 In 1900, industry ran on coal. Today, business runs on data. Competitive advantage comes from having the data, but more importantly, knowing how to extract value from it. With the rise of AI, everything everywhere is getting disrupted, all at once. Those companies, governments and individuals who have the resources to deploy artificial intelligence are destined to out-compete the laggards.

One company that is finding rapid traction supporting international businesses, especially those in North America, is BI Consulting Lab, located in the residential Medellín suburb of Guarne, Colombia. The company’s offices are a beehive of activity, with data scientists, programmers, and client executives buzzing about. Company founder Brian Castaño Rendón made time for Loren Moss, the executive editor of Finance Colombia and Cognitive Business News to come by and learn more about the firm’s rapid progress.

Finance Colombia: So I’m here with Brian Castaño Rendón, a friend, a colleague, a former co-worker. I’ve known you for quite a few years now, probably seven or eight years. Cool to reunite with you here at your company headquarters in Guarne, which is a bedroom community outside of Medellín. And you’re doing some really interesting things. Tell me about your company. What’s your company called?

Brian Rendón: My company is called BI Consulting Lab. First of all, thank you for having me and for spending time with us.

Finance Colombia: Of course. So, what is BI Consulting Lab? I know it’s software-focused. I know it’s data-focused. But tell me in your own words what BI Consulting Lab does.

Brian Rendón: OK, so basically, what we are is a company that specializes in data and AI. And we use that technology to help businesses make better decisions. We do decision support. And we try to allow the executives and the managers of every company to have the tools to come up with the decisions and support those decisions. Hopefully, by implementing the right decisions, the productivity of the company will progress exponentially over time.

Finance Colombia: I think one of the things that happens when I think about the companies that I’ve worked in, small companies, large companies… A lot of times, the problem is not collecting the data or not having enough data, but not being able to extract the value out of their data. I think that what happens is we might have, I don’t know, let’s say a grocer who has two types of inventory. They have the actual products that they sell, but then they have their shelf space. And it’s easy to say, “How many bottles of ketchup did I sell today?” or “How many cans of tuna fish did I sell?” or something like that.

But then there’s another level to that. And that’s to say, “How do I optimize my inventory when it comes to real estate?” And I don’t mean real estate like buildings or shopping centers, but I mean the shelf space that they have, and how they might not know how it is going to affect sales if I move this product from one level on the shelf to another level. Or “How do I optimize the shelf space?”

One of the things that annoys me here in Colombia, I’m more of a Pepsi guy than a Coke guy, but I go into the store and Coca-Cola has like eight racks of just Coca-Cola. And there’s like two bottles -not two racks- there’s like two bottles of Pepsi. Now, they’re not doing that by accident. They must know something. I do know that Coke is more popular in Colombia than Pepsi, but maybe there’s more to it than that. Maybe the way that the stores optimize their space, they’re going to not just put things on the shelf because they want to, but they have to figure out what the optimum size is.

What are other use cases for where a company might want to call on you all and enlist your help, not just as software people, but as real consultants who can go in and analyze and look at what they’re doing?

Brian Rendón: Yeah, of course. So, to your point there, when you were talking about specifically the retail industry, we do have experience working with large retail stores, specifically in the US. We are working right now with Kroger Acosta, which is a supplier from Kroger. We help them analyze their space distribution, their shelf distribution, and what they call planograms.

Let’s take three steps back. And, what you said first, companies don’t have issues collecting data, not that much of an issue, all of them have spreadsheets. All of them have Excel. Most of them already have SQL databases and stuff like that. What they struggle with is extracting its value. And usually here in the data industry, we say that you usually need three things to be able to extract the value from the data, to convert the data into information, and the information into decisions.

You need three elements to converge: you need the business knowledge, you need the technical side that allows you to do the computations, and then you need the statistics. So you need the ability to concatenate these three elements, like in a Venn diagram. And at the center of it, you kind of have the formula for you to be able to extract information and convert it into decisions.

So, on the shelf space, just to take an example, in this case for Kroger, what we did was to create something called a space analysis tool. What we did for them was to help them get all of those hundreds of millions of records that they have on the different commodities and the different stores and the different departments and sub-commodities and divisions, and stuff like that, organizing it into a cohesive model. When we say modeling in data analytics, we mean the relationship between dimensions and transactions for a company, and how we can take a specific transaction and dimensionalize the transaction into when it happened, how it happened, and why it happened. So we create a cohesive model, take those hundreds of millions of transactions, and we try to put the values into perspective.

And if we alter this or that combination, we could, with probable cost, assume that we could get a better performance, or maybe we could have a worse performance if we do that. So, having the data and organizing it helps you to do those what-if analysis scenarios that allow you to make the right decisions or try to make the more probable right decisions, because this is a game of probability.

Finance Colombia: Crystal ball or something.

Brian Rendón: Crystal ball, exactly. Thank you. Yeah, so what we deal with here is probability. So if you do this, data-supported, it could probably go up; if you do this or that, the data tells us that it probably won’t go as well. And then we do a hypothesis, we test it on our models, and then we give you a possibility and a scenario that you could utilize in your decision-making. That’s an example of how businesses, specifically from the distribution company, the distribution and the retail company, can come to us and we can try to help them improve their decision making, for example, in their distribution or their shelf space in a specific market chain. But that applies to any industry.

That’s the cool thing about data, because data is omnipresent in all industries. There could be problems whether they capture it, all of it, or not, but they are constantly being generated at every time in every industry, in every division of any company. So what we try to do with that is to take it, analyze it, capitalize it, and utilize it in a way that the company can make decisions based on that. By improving their decision-making, they can improve their productivity.

“Companies don’t have issues collecting data…What they struggle with is extracting its value.”

Finance Colombia: I think one of the areas, I look at forecasting, and I think even to stay in the grocery sector, I remember I’ve been down here in Colombia for a long time now, but I remember right before I left and moved down here, a really interesting thing was happening in the US at Christmas season. And that was that, traditionally you have Christmas, and then right after Christmas, you have these big giant clearance sales to get rid of all the Christmas stuff and all the stuff left over from Christmas.

Well, in the later years, those were going away. And the reason… I mean, there’s always some sale, but it wasn’t because they had excess inventory, but because the forecasting got so scientific that they were able to put in all of these variables and economic indicators and all this stuff like that. And they were able to predict very, very accurately how much of whatever product they would sell. So by the time Christmas was over, they didn’t run out before Christmas, but there wasn’t an excess inventory after Christmas.

And I think about how these types of tools and disciplines that you all specialize in can be applied. Do you guys have any cases where you’re able to use your data expertise for predictive analysis, let’s say, or to be able to do forecasting for clients?

Brian Rendón: Yes, we do that all the time. Where we focus is on trying to understand the historical trends. And for that, machine learning is a pretty powerful tool to do that. So when a company has a lot of records and a lot of, let’s say, let’s think in a tabular way. So you have a table with your transactions, and those transactions have a lot of characteristic attributes. So you have the type of store, the type of commodity, three or four subdivisions, they have dates, they have comments, even, like plain text, string elements. And we can use all of that and put it into a deep learning algorithm, for example, an algorithm.

And we can try to understand what attributes are the most impactful about the transactions to discover patterns or clusters, or different elements that allow us to understand the data. And then what we do based on those algorithms is to take the most important elements for us to predict a consistent behavior from the historical data.

So we first allocate the important elements for us to do a calculation, and then we set up the calculation. And what we do then is do an 80% to 20% analysis. So you take 80% of the data to train a model, and 20% to test it. So when that 20% of the data, when the model gives you a performance, or I would say around 98%, 97% of accuracy, then you take that information that you got left, that the algorithm has never seen, you fit it to it. You already know the answers for each of those values. But you want to test how accurately they predict the right price for a specific day, for a specific week, maybe, or month. And you want to see how the prediction compares to the actuals.

And if you see that there is not much difference, you have a statistical base to say, “Okay, based on this statistical way that has proven 80% to 90% accuracy, let’s plan our inventories by that, and let’s keep testing it.” So we do a six-month, three-month, and a year forecast, and we even adjust the model to allow us to adjust the forecast as time goes on. Because as time goes on, the model has more data to be trained on, and has actual factual data that has happened with the respective attributes, and can infer the most important elements for the whole bunch of time you have on your data source. Or you can even segment it, segment it, and then try to find asynchronous spikes or stuff like that.

Finance Colombia: How far away, and I’m sure that there are so many other business use cases for what you guys do, but you guys also are very well-versed in AI, in building AI into your data solutions. How far away are we from, let’s suppose one of your clients says, “Okay, we have AI and we have all of this data, and can I just ask the software, hey, how much shelf space should I allocate to Seven Up?” In plain text, just like an AI, like a generative question, or is it still a lot more complex than that? Even though, yes, I know we can get the data, but how far away are we from being able to just say, “Should the Tide laundry detergent be on the third shelf or the second shelf?”

Brian Rendón: Yeah, so I would say on that one, we’re not that far, we’re rather close, but we need to figure out a couple of things. So let me go into that. So when you or your users use ChatGPT or Claude or DeepSeek, what they do is to enter a context in the context window, the chat window that you have, you start typing a problem or a comment or whatever, you give some instructions, you add some context, and based on the training that the model has given, he will answer you, right? That’s basically how it works.

The issue with doing that with corporate data is that, first, the corporate data is not that well-structured in most cases, so that’s the first thing. And then most of the models limit your ability to input information into the model. So the way it works is that you buy, for OpenAI, which is the most famous one of them all, you buy a subscription to them, right? You connect via an API, and you insert information that you want into the model so it can use it as context and then answer you. So each of those lines, each one of those syllables that you input is are token, and for those tokens, you are charged money.

So it becomes very inefficient when you want to process millions and millions of records, which will turn into billions of tokens, which you will have to pay for to get a single answer. So that is not an efficient solution right away. So, for example, what we do to try to improve that and make that process more efficient is we do the connection to the model, the LLM, the Large Language Model, even Anthropic or Claude or OpenAI, in this case, ChatGPT. We can connect to all of those models. We can connect to the open source, which Facebook is the powerhouse for that; we can connect to Llama. You can connect to all of those models or any of those models.

Brian Rendón: For you to make it efficient, you want to have like a small step in between. So what you want to do is you query your information directly via an API, so that the API provides you with the actual value. And then you use the LLM, ChatGPT, to generate a text-based answer. So it tells you in a normal English-speaking way the answer that you want to hear. But the processing, you push the processing not into the model, but into the SQL engine, or the database engine, or the data warehouse that you use.

And there are different ways for you to do that. There are also ways you can input multiple inputs into the model, so the model processes them and generates an answer.

But usually the most effective way for easy questions, for example, if  you are in finance, you say, “Okay, how many subscribers did we get last week?” You can go and check your database and do a query, and get an answer. But if you want to talk to an assistant, we can do that. We can connect your WhatsApp, for example, to an LLM that will connect to your database. And you ask that, that will go to do a query into your database and get an answer. And that answer will give you back your answer either by text or by speech, whatever you prefer. If you send a speech message, a voice message, it will answer you with another voice message. We can improve the voice using Flask, another model that is out there. So we can do that. And in that way, the LLM, the AI model, is not doing the processing of the information.

Finance Colombia: It’s just packaging it.

Brian Rendón: Exactly. It’s just doing the delivery nicely.

Finance Colombia: Like in networking, we used to call that the presentation layer.

Brian Rendón: Yeah, exactly. And that’s important because the way our LLMs work at the moment is that they get confused. When you give them a lot of information, like you overextend in your context window, the LLM model will start to hallucinate. What I mean by hallucinate is that it will start to give you a random answer that is not correct. And that’s because the model itself doesn’t know what answers are correct or not. They answer in a probabilistic way. And that’s precisely why you don’t want it to process millions of records of information, at least not at this stage. Because it can get confused. And you don’t want to take an answer from it, maybe a hallucinated one that is not accurate, and then you allocate some of your budget based on a not very accurate answer.

Finance Colombia: Exactly.

Brian Rendón: So, at the moment, at least, you try to push the processing with accurate models that we can easily do at the moment using APIs. And you query the information from the model. First, you need to have a very good data architecture, which that’s some other thing that we do. We help businesses to understand how to capture the information correctly, how to extract it, normalize it, and place it rationally into a data warehouse, Datamore, and different databases.

So that their transactional information is arrayed with their dimensional information, so that they can be combined in a way that is efficient and answers questions for you. So when you have a very robust and very good data architecture, it facilitates a lot the transition to implement AI models. Because when you have accurate information, and rather than accurate information, very well normalized and organized information in your company, that information can be easily queried.

And when you query that information, which is easily, again, queried, and you push the processing into a very powerful engine like SQL, for example, you get specific answers, so the right amount of answers that you want. And then you put it into the AI. And then the AI can just give you the packaging that you set, tell you the answer nicely, and it can perform a couple of other layers of analysis as well.

So you can ask it to give me a projection of sales for my next six months. So it pushes into the SQL engine a query for your actual revenue or whatever metric you are measuring for your last 18 months, and uses that as an input for it to calculate your following months. And it can give you a trend. It can give you a chart. It can give you a lot of things. And it is based on actual information that, with the right amount that it can process with a high degree of certainty that is accurate.

Again, we are still working on the probabilistic element. The different models right now, what I believe they’re doing based on the news that we hear, is to make more efficient what we have, to reduce the number of hallucinations, to make it have short-term reasoning and long-term reasoning, which is basically what we do. We come up with an easy answer, but then we reflect on that answer and maybe confirm the answer. Or in other words, change the answer.

Finance Colombia: Refine it.

Brian Rendón: Refine it, exactly. So if you see one for OpenAI, the ChatGPT model, that one usually gives you, when you ask it something, it starts reasoning. And you can visualize the questions that it is asking itself, and how it conceptualizes the question that you asked, and the possible answers, and try to refine it. It was way lower, like eight months ago, but it gives you more accurate answers nowadays.

Finance Colombia: What are the applications that companies can use that you’ve seen in your business, and with the kinds of companies that you’ve all been able to help? Where companies have engaged you to help them improve their customer experience. How can the work that you do translate into a better customer experience for companies? Do you have any examples of that?

Brian Rendón: Yeah, we have a couple of them. Usually, in the context of virtual engagement, for example, they have multiple challenges to be approached. And they are struggling to be able to answer, one person to answer in different channels, keep track of the different requirements, and answer them in ways that are more optimal with the whole context at every time.

So it’s hard for them to keep track of all their chats in WhatsApp, Instagram, and maybe others. So what we do for them is we create automations that connect up their context database. So we create a context database for them. And then we connect that context database to ChatGPT, for example, to OpenAI or other AI models. And those AI models get, we’d say we create a custom ChatGPT, trained for that specific business. And that way, whenever there is a person who comes, that triggers a reaction in our pipeline, that pushes the question or the comment from the social network as an input, and then sends it to the LLM that has already been trained with the context of the company. So they have the context on how to answer that question, or comments, based on whatever the company has at the moment. So it is very important, the connection, the connectivity with the databases of the company, at every turn. Even more so when you are trying to do a service on time, and live services and stuff like that. So we have a couple of restaurants with that. And we are discussing a solution for a stockbroker here in Colombia. They… I met him at the event that you held at the Marquee.

Finance Colombia: Oh, great. Last year. So, Finance Colombia events lead to business.

Brian Rendón: Exactly. Yes, it does. So he told me that time, “Look, I’m the CEO of the company. We are a very large stockbroker company. And whenever we have, let’s say, the dividends coming from Ecopetrol, it is a madhouse in my company because we have 13,000 customers calling at the same time trying to confirm that we are depositing their dividends, on how they went or how much it came, stuff like that.” And he told me, “I have 15 people at customer service and they get overwhelmed immediately with that type of information.”

So I thought at the moment a couple of ways to reduce that pressure from customers trying to get access to their data specifically. I asked him, “Okay, we could do dashboards for them, dashboarding and reporting, custom reporting for them that they will automatically get once the transaction comes with the usual context that they ask for, so that they already have it, and that way they get this incentivized to call because they already have the information and that could reduce the number.”

Another thing is to try to automate part of your customer service using these LLMs. There was a more recent solution that we proposed to him, because he said people want to talk to someone, to hear, and since we are advancing pretty fast in the speech element of the AI, the sounding is less robotic, it can be trained.

Finance Colombia: It’s getting pretty spooky. Yeah, it’s getting pretty impressive.

Brian Rendón: Yeah, it’s getting pretty impressive. Today we can connect to those models and train it into a Colombian, Argentinian, Cuban, Mexican, whatever type of accent that you want, it can be pretty realistic and can help you send automatic messages or answer calls if you need to and give the answer, the simple answers to people based on a couple of parameters. So you need to parametrize all of that.

Finance Colombia: You’ve been very generous with your time. Last question for you. So we’re here in Guarne. Guarne is kind of a bedroom community, a suburb. We’re probably about 20 or 30 minutes out from the city limits of Medellín. You’re Colombian. I realize that, but why does Colombia work for a business of this type? If we think about your clients that are in the US and other parts of the world, a lot of times, people think of IT, they think of a company being in India, or something like that. Why Colombia and why the Medellín metropolitan area for a tech company of this type?

Brian Rendón: Okay, so I’ve been working with you actually for a lot of years now in the BPO business, and understanding the relationship, the US relationships in terms of outsourcing and in general, and specifically for technology. I know that there are three major hubs for outsourcing technology services. So we have Latin America, we have India, and we have Eastern Europe, right? So, when you have Latin America, I would say two elements may differentiate us from the other two. First is the time zone. We have a very good time zone.

“I would say Medellín stands high as a digital nomad center. We have a lot of people coming from different places. The last time I checked a nomad list, I think it’s called Nomad List. We were ranked, I think, first or second in Latin America.” – Brian Rendón

Finance Colombia: We’re in the US Central Time right now, Texas, Chicago.

Brian Rendón: We have the same time zones as the US, so that’s a first element. And then due to our proximity to them, we are more culturally close to them than an Eastern European from Ukraine or Belarus, or Macedonia.

Finance Colombia: Very true.

Brian Rendón: Or also an Indian. Our accent is usually more familiar to them. Our way to speak to things that are relevant to both sides is also closer. So there are ties, cultural ties, that facilitate the communication. So I would say that that’s something that maybe can be impactful for a decision-making process for a US company to choose a Colombian or Medellin company over a Belarusian company. That could be some major points there. But the other element that I would say is that we have… specifically Medellín, which is particularly high-skilled in technology than other areas in Latin America in general.

I would say more than Lima, more than Monterrey or Guadalajara, more than maybe Montevideo. I would say Medellín stands high as a digital nomad center. We have a lot of people coming from different places. The last time I checked a nomad list, I think it’s called Nomad List. We were ranked, I think, first or second in Latin America. And in the world, here in Colombia, we were like third or fourth after Bali, Barcelona, maybe another one. So we have a lot of talent coming over here. We have a very friendly environment for development. We have cultural ties, like I described before, the ability to work in the same time zone, the cultural ties, and the high-skilled people.

So that, I think, makes a pretty good combination that differentiates us from the Indian and the Belarusian. Also, we are a bit more expensive than our other Eastern European and Indian counterparts. But I think the quality part, which is hard to quantify sometimes, but I would say in most cases, the quality part, which is the more humane part, like the easy to speak in a way that is more understandable for people, can be a very good point.

We are very, very present in most of the operations. And within the Latin American people, Colombia and specifically Medellín stand pretty, pretty high in the rankings of people. Wherever I go, there are half-Latin American teams. I usually see people from Colombia, and specifically from Medellín.

Finance Colombia: It’s kind of like the Silicon Valley of Latin America. It is, you know, access is easy. We’re probably half an hour from the airport right here. And then once you’re on a flight, it’s two hours to the US. And yeah, I think that, you know, you also have that Paisa entrepreneurial culture that you find specifically in this part of the country, maybe a little bit in the Coffee Axis down in Coffee Country: Manizales, Pereira, which is part of this region. It is, you know.

So Brian, what is, if people want to get in touch with you, if people want to get in touch with your company, what are your if you could remind us of the company name and, of course, your website, but any other channels of communication that would be convenient for you and potential collaborators or clients?

Brian Rendón: Of course. So, first of all, our webpage, again, is www.biconsultinglab.com. My corporate email is brian.castano@biconsultinglab.com. You can also find me on my LinkedIn profile with the same address, Brian Esteban Castano Rendon. When you go to our web page, you have a Contact Us page, and that will automatically help you to set up, to direct you to a landing page where you can set up a meeting, a 15 meeting with one of our sales representatives. So we can do a first assessment, a quick assessment on whether we could be a good match for whatever you need.

This one may be important for people to know. So, the way we classify a company that can be a potential customer for us, we don’t receive anyone, because our solutions could help anyone, but not all companies are prepared, or at the stage where our services can be of good value for them. So, we are pretty sincere from the get-go, and we tell them, “Okay, look, we want companies that already have some sort of infrastructure of data or have enough transactions that they think is necessary for them to start setting up a data infrastructure.” We can help them there, where you want to make sense of your data, we can help you there, and when you want to start automating and maybe do predictive analysis and try to incorporate AI into operation, we can help you there.

Either you know what you need, we say, okay, maybe you specifically need this. We both agree, we give you a quote, and then we start our payment process, and then we do an onboarding, and we start working together.

Or if you want to kind of implement the concept of what we sell, like getting the data, if you have to improve your decision-making, but you don’y know how to do that practically, what we do is we offer you a free diagnosis, we take around three hours to make with your top executives and department, head of departments. And it has to happen within a week. So, we take the three, maybe four hours, we sit down, we understand your business, we understand your applications, the integration within the application, how you extract information from them, what are the pain points that you have, each of the departments in general, and also each of the departments, what are your strategic goals?

And we try to combine all of that information to understand your current state and where you could be. Once we understand those two, we lay out a plan that says, okay, maybe from, coming from where you are to where you could be, we think that you could do this and this and this or that steps, and we can help you do those, for this amount of money. And we will send you a formal offer. We did a diagnosis that, again, is free. So, you get your diagnosis at the very least, you get a good sense, a better sense of where you are, and how you could eventually implement AI or data in your day-to-day operation. And if, maybe, if we see that we could be a good fit and you like our proposition, we start working together, we discuss the quotation, you pay us, and we do an onboarding session with you. And hopefully we can bring you value, we can start a long-term relationship, helping you do the transition from a business model that is not AI or data-centric into one that very, very much values their data assets and can monetize them along the way.

Finance Colombia: Impressive, you know, and it’s been impressive to see your success grow as a person, you know, I’ve known you for almost 10 years, but, you know, we’re here in your offices, and it’s full of people. I walked in today, and it’s just like a beehive, everybody’s on computers and having different calls and things like that. So people must realize these aren’t just a couple of guys with a laptop; this is an impressive operation here.

So I would encourage, of course, any kind of company that is looking to better utilize their data to support their corporate decisions, or not even just companies, but even organizations, government agencies, things like that, that you guys obviously, you have the advantages of being based here in suburban Medellín, Colombia, but are already serving clients in North America and throughout the world. So, I’m excited for you, I’m excited to watch you guys grow, and of course, we’ll continue to keep in touch, and I can’t wait to hear about future successes, so congratulations.

Brian Rendón: Thank you so much.

The remodeling, which began on February 24, represented an investment of $500,000 USD and allowed the modernization of different areas such as the reception, rest, buffet, coworking area, showers, and the general furniture of the lounge. The spaces have been optimized through a distribution and separation of environments, while the lighting has been renewed to provide a warmer, more functional, and welcoming experience for travelers.

One of the main changes is the renovation of the buffet, which offers a completely new gastronomic proposal inspired by South American flavors, which is complemented by a careful selection of wines and spirits from the region. The lounge will continue to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with permanent availability for international travelers.

Access to the lounge is available for passengers traveling in premium business or premium economy cabins, as well as for members of the black signature, black, and platinum categories of the LATAM Pass program. Elite passengers flying in premium cabins with allied airlines such as Delta Air Lines, Iberia, and Aeromexico can also access it. Additionally, any VISA cardholder can access it and manage their access through the Visa Airport Companion application.

A global transformation

The renovation of the lounge in Bogotá is part of an ambitious transformation plan that LATAM is implementing in its main airports around the world. During 2025, new spaces will be added in Peru, Brazil, and the United States, aligned with the standard of the Santiago lounge, inaugurated in 2022. This new generation of halls is distinguished by modern, comfortable architecture and interiors with local identity, integrating cultural, gastronomic, and hospitality elements specific to each country.

Among the projects is the upcoming opening of the lounge at the Jorge Chávez airport in Lima, with an investment of $10.5 million USD, and the development of the new space at the Guarulhos airport (São Paulo), with an estimated investment of $18 million USD and scheduled to open in 2027. In the United States, LATAM is also planning to expand its lounge at Miami airport in the coming years.

These renovations by the LATAM Group are aimed at offering a premium experience, creating spaces designed for rest, comfort, and enjoyment in each destination.

Photo credit: LATAM Airlines.

Finance Colombia was present during Vitrina Turistica 2025, the huge travel industry trade show put on in Bogotá by ANATO, the travel industry trade organization. During a presentation given by JetSmart executives outlining the airline’s growth and plans for Colombia, Finance Colombia Executive Editor Loren Moss was able to ask a few questions of  Chief Commercial Officer Victor Mejia. Colombia Country Manager Mario Garcia was also on hand. By clicking above, the reader can hear the original interview in Spanish.

Finance Colombia: Victor, very kind of you. Thank you for weighing in on this. My question is, I saw that when purchasing my ticket to fly here, I could now put my American Airlines AAdvantage loyalty program number into my JetSmart reservation. How has that reception been? And taking into account your alliance with American Airlines since you are growing internationally, can you grow to North America and more destinations in the Caribbean? Or would the strategy be to leave that to your partners and connect through them?

Victor Mejia: No, thank you for the question. Look, the truth is that to offer AAdvantage, AAdvantage miles for all JetSMART travelers so that they can accumulate them by buying tickets and continue flying with us, and then use their miles to redeem all the options that American Airlines has to visit in the world, it is a great benefit. We are very proud of being able to share and offer it to our travelers. So, we invite everyone to enter their AAdvantage number every time they buy a ticket on JetSMART, so they can receive the benefits of flying.

We will continue to expand our airline, mainly in Colombia; like the news we just saw, our Cali-San Andres flight. And we will continue to look for the opportunity to bring in air connectivity. American Airlines is our partner, we are there supporting each other through code share flights, and we will be bringing that to Colombia in the future. So no, definitely the options to provide international connectivity, either directly or through our alliance with American Airlines, will continue to be there.

Finance Colombia: And the importance of having Indigo Partners as an investor?

Victor Mejia: Yes well, Indigo Partners is our airline’s founding partner, they have more than 20 years of experience with the low-cost model around the world, and they are very tied to and very involved with the airline. We work hand in hand in all the management with Indigo. They also help us view the global perspective of aviation. And in the part of fleet acquisitions, which is why we can have the newest fleet in South America, we were recently recognized for that again, and continue to receive brand-new aircraft from the factory, Airbus A320 and A321. Those are some of the strengths of belonging to the Indigo Partners group.

JetSMART discusses the airline’s growth in Colombia

Ana: JetSMART’s commitment to connectivity and tourism in Colombia is undeniable. We are in this 44th edition of the ANATO Vitrina Turística 2025, which is the most important event of the sector in the country, and the best venue to deliver great news. Since it arrived in Colombia in March of last year, JetSMART has revolutionized the way Colombians travel, Smart model, with its ultra-low-cost model, where passengers pay only for what they need. Connecting more cities, facilitating access to flights through very low fares. Today it continues to expand its presence in the country, giving more Colombians the opportunity to fly in an affordable, efficient way and with the most modern fleet in South America, the youngest.

Today we will share with all of you the airline’s progress in Colombia, we will do a presentation, and so I invite Victor Mejia, JetSMART’s Chief Commercial Officer to provide all this information. So of course once again, we welcome Victor. Go ahead.

“And we have been serving the Colombian market since March of 2024. Yes, we have six international routes from Colombia.” – Victor Mejia

Victor Mejia: Thank you, Ana. Good morning everyone. It is a pleasure to be here again at Anato, sharing with you -there are some familiar faces from last year as well- the JetSMART news. This year we are also bringing good news, and we wanted to take advantage of the Vitrina Turística de Anato, what better place to do it, than to tell you how we did in this first year of operation? But also to bring good news, so I hope it will be to everyone’s liking. For those of you who we haven’t had the pleasure of knowing, or have not had the opportunity to get to know JetSMART, let me tell you a little bit about our airline.

JetSMART is owned by the Indigo Partners investment fund, a private investment fund based in Phoenix, Arizona, which has airlines all over the world in the ultra-low-cost model. One of these airlines, which may be familiar to you, is Volaris in Mexico, which is the number 1 or 2 airline in Mexico. You also have Frontier in the United States, there is also the Wizz Air airline in Europe, and Cebu Pacific in the Philippines, and for South America we took on the task of founding JetSMART, in 2016. The company started flying in July 2017, and since then we have been serving different countries in Latin America. And now we are going to tell you a little bit about how we’ve been expanding. So a bit like I was saying before, with the Indigo Partners group that has more than 20 years of experience in ultra-low-cost airlines around the world.

Also our mission; well we came here because we want to connect 100 million people. So far we are already 35, we are getting there, moving forward in the middle of a pandemic also, which was challenging for the whole sector, for all sectors I think. But well, for the aviation sector, it was especially challenging. But we are on that path, and as part of that path, we have opened operations in different countries in South America with our Smart model. It is an ultra-low-cost model that has been the fastest growing in the world in recent years; in Europe, it is already very mature, and in the United States as well. In South America, we have already been in different countries for several years with the low-cost model, which is very well known in Colombia.

There were important changes in the sector, we saw the opportunity, and that is why we are here, to serve by bringing back the low-cost model to Colombia. Our models, new airplanes, we are going to talk a little bit more about that. Our prices, as well, are low, so that people can travel a lot, can select what they want to customize in their trip, and what they want to pay for. Because the ticket they are going to buy with JetSMART, the lowest fare possible, is going to allow them to travel from point A to point B, and the passenger can customize their trip, choosing if they want luggage if they want a specific seat. It is a model that is a bit more transparent as well, that allows the passenger to not pay for what they do not need.

In our strategy, we also try to have routes, what we call Smart routes, which are routes that do not necessarily go to the big hubs that exist in the different countries, but that connect point-to-point cities that need air transportation, and that are not being served. So we have been adding routes between cities that did not normally have an air connectivity service. As for our fleet, well, in the year 2028, we will be reaching 124 aircraft. We currently have 44 aircraft in operation. The request was made in a historic aircraft order that we have made hand in hand with Indigo Partners and the other airlines of the group. They are already committed, they are already signed and purchased, so it is the most prominent aircraft reception process we have, and in permanent growth.

We have aircraft of the Airbus A320 and A321 family. Of A320 we have the A320neo fleet, and of A321 also neo, which is the most efficient aircraft available to date. We are the first operator in South America to have this type of aircraft. The interior of our aircraft they are brand new, they are efficient, with E-Leather seat technology, which is very comfortable and light. Part of our model is to be very cost-efficient to translate that cost-efficiency into pricing for consumers. We are committed to sustainability; our aircraft represent the diversity of the region; each aircraft has its own identity, an animal from the different countries where we operate. We work with different environmental conservation entities in different countries, and we are bringing that identity to the tails of the airplanes.

We are very proud to share with you a piece of news, a scoop from a couple of days ago, and that is that once again Ch-Aviation, which is an aviation institute that evaluates all the fleets around the world, has recognized and verified that we have the newest airplane fleet in South America, once again for the year 2025. This is a product of the fact that, as I shared with you before, we are constantly receiving new aircraft from the Airbus factory, so this is going to be something that we believe we will be maintaining for some time because these aircraft will continue to arrive every year.

Also one of our partners, a minority shareholder of the company but also a commercial ally, is American Airlines. We have a very broad commercial alliance that involves code-share flights, which we do not have in Colombia yet, but they will come and we will be sharing them with you as soon as they do. But we do have them in other countries in South America. Also, the frequent flyer program, AAdvantage, in which today, AAdvantage frequent flyer program members can earn miles when they buy tickets on JetSMART, and fly with JetSMART. And you can redeem those miles in America and fly all over the world. So it’s a very, very important partner.

As I was sharing with you, in 2017 we started flying, and we took on the task of bringing air connectivity to all of South America. Currently, we serve South America with 81 routes, we serve 8 countries, and we have domestic operations in 4 countries. The first one we started in Chile in 2017, later we went to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and we have served the entire Argentine domestic since 2019. Later in the pandemic, since we were all cooped up at home, we got creative and decided to open in Peru, so we started operating in Peru. And last year, finally, with great pleasure for many of us who have a past linked to Colombia, we arrived in Colombia.

And we have been serving the Colombian market since March of 2024. Yes, we have six international routes from Colombia. And for this, we are going to talk a little bit more about our arrival in Colombia and how we have been doing so far, what we have been up to this last year, so I want to pass the floor to Mario Garcia, our Country Manager here at JetSMART in Colombia. So, Mario, the microphone is yours.

Mario Garcia: Good morning. I’m very pleased to be here and with a full house. I would like to tell you a bit, after what Victor explained to us, about what has been done throughout South America, and what we have done in Colombia. In Colombia, out of those 44 airplanes, we have 8 airplanes operating, 320, and we have these six international routes. We connect Cartagena, Medellín, Cali, Bogotá, with Santiago, Lima and Antofagasta. It has been a very fluid and year-round operation. And now to talk a bit about domestic flights. We started operating on March 14 of last year, and we already have, with what we are going to announce now, 19 domestic routes; we serve 10 cities; last year we flew two and a half million people; we had close to 14,000 operations; 14,000 take-offs in 9 months.

That incorporation of airplanes was practically one airplane per month, a very accelerated growth, and in order to bring airplanes and air travel closer to Colombia. Today we have one of the highest per capita flight averages in the region; 0.8 flights per person, and we want to be a support for more Colombians to fly and get closer to airplanes. Since we have been flying, 38% of passengers have flown in a plane for the first time with us.

On connectivity with the San Andrés Archipelago

Audience member: I would also like to ask you, we know that yesterday you met with (San Andrés & {Profidencia) Governor Nicolas Gallardo. What other things could you anticipate for us (from the San Andrés Archipelago)? What other, let’s say, destinations are also being explored to connect San Andres, both nationally and internationally? Thank you.

Victor Mejia: Thank you for your questions. We are very pleased with the performance of this Medellín -San Andres route. We had a very good reception from the public, not only in Medellín, but we also made international connectivity. The idea is that both from Medellín and from the new route we are announcing now, Cali-San Andres, there will be international connectivity. To Cali, we fly Santiago-Cali and Antofagasta-Cali. We are the only ones flying those direct flights to the city of Cali, and the idea is to also use this as a connection point to the San Andres island. Our purpose for the time being is to continue gathering more opportunities.

Hopefully, we can turn these four frequencies into more, if we have the reception we expect from the public, and through that, we can make the flight to the island from different points more viable. So let’s continue working hand in hand, it is truly a pleasure to receive the support of both the local media and the government, and with all the actors and tour operators of the island. We will be bringing you international connectivity through the two points of  Medellín and Cali.

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In addition to JetSmart’s domestic operations, starting with three Airbus A320neo aircraft, the airline has already been flying international routes between Medellín, Lima Peru, and Santiago, Chile.

Travelers will be able to take advantage of exclusive discounts on domestic routes with tickets starting at $47,800 Colombian pesos (including fees and taxes) or about $13 US Dollars.

Jetsmart also announced Thursday that the airline’s Colombian base of operations will be at the José María Córdova International Airport in Rionegro, Colombia; a suburb of Medellín.  CEO Estuardo Ortíz (above photo, left) credited the work of the mayoral administrations of Medellín, Rionegro, the Governor of Antioquia, and Airport operations contractor Airplan.

“We believe, trust and invest in Colombia, and especially today we are committed to the region of Antioquia and its more than six and a half million inhabitants, to contribute to tourism, development and connectivity of all communities, just as we have already done with the 25 million people who have already flown with us throughout South America. We want the region to go out into the world, and for Antioquia, Medellín and the region to connect from the airport in Rionegro to more destinations and frequencies, both domestic and international. Our new operation in Colombia is an important step in our vision of 100 million passengers and 100 aircraft by 2028,” said Ortíz.

JetSmart launched a total of eight direct routes from Medellín to Santa Marta, Cartagena and Bogotá; and from Bogota, to Cartagena, Pereira, Santa Marta and Medellín, as well as from Cartagena to Pereira and Cali. These domestic routes are in addition to the seven international routes that JetSmart flies from Medellín to Chile and Peru, with connections to Argentina and Uruguay. Codeshare agreements will provide connectivity north to the United States through American Airlines, and JetSmart has announced coming participation to American Airlines’ AAdvantage loyalty program.

JetSmart is part of the airline portfolio of U.S. investment fund Indigo Partners, along with airlines Frontier in the United States, WizzAir in Europe, Volaris in Mexico and Cebu Pacific in Asia.

Indigo Partners Principal Brian Franke (above photo, right) said that “We are looking forward to the start of JetSMART’s domestic operations in Colombia and continue to invest in the region to develop the ultra-low-cost model. We see tremendous growth potential in Colombia, and as we expand JetSmart we continue to provide affordable air travel to more people and communities.”

Operating Out Of Terminal 2 In Bogotá

Thursday morning, JetSmart celebrated its Colombian domestic launch with a press conference in the Puente Aereo, or Terminal 2 of Bogotá’s El Dorado International Airport. Bogotá airport operator OPAIN renovated parts of Terminal 2 with new chairs and seating areas, installing Veripax technology for digital reading of boarding passes, and an exclusive area for VIP and official travelers. They also expanded the gate areas, remodeled the bathrooms, installed new floors and charging areas.

“We celebrate the start of JetSMART’s domestic operations in the country, as this strengthens the sector and boosts El Dorado’s position as the main hub for connection to the regions of Colombia. We have adapted Terminal 2 – the former Air Bridge, so that travelers can take their domestic flights in a more comfortable and agile way,”  said Natalí Leal, General Manager of OPAIN.

It is important that domestic passengers flying JetSmart from Bogotá keep in mind that flights leave from Terminal 2, while international flights still arrive and depart from the main terminal. There is a free shuttle that travels between the two airport terminals. Travelers must allow adequate time for transfers, and if necessary, immigration for international flights. Passengers arriving to El Dorado International Airport for domestic JetSmart flights should be explicit with transportation providers that they will be departing from Terminal 2 or “El Puente Aereo.”

So far, it has now cleared three of the five required certification phases and submitted the necessary documentation to operate domestically from airports in Bogotá, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Cali, Cartagena, Medellín, Cúcuta, Monteria, Pereira, Pasto, San Andrés and Santa Marta, according to the company.

The Santiago-based carrier, which already offers seven international routes to connect Colombia with other nations, also stated that it is working with the national aviation authority Aerocivil to secure landing and takeoff slots at Bogotá’s El Dorado International Airport

“We are now in the final stretch to complete all regulatory requirements and be able to offer domestic flights, with new aircraft, ultra-low prices throughout the country,” said JetSmart President and CEO Estuardo Ortiz,

Currently, JetSmart operates flights from Santiago to Bogotá, Medellin, and Cali; Lima to Cartagena, Medellín, and Cúcuta; and Antofagasta, Chile to Cali.

Utilizing JetSmart[s fleet of 25 Airbus A320neo and A321neo aircraft, the airline says that the Medellín-Lima route will operate five times a week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, starting its flights from November 8, 2023. The Cartagena-Lima route will begin on December 7 with flights on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. For its part, the Cúcuta-Lima route will begin on December 12 with flights on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

JetSmart’s passenger traffic has increased by 70% over the previous year (1^st 5 months)

“We are excited to offer travelers in Colombia a new option to get to Peru. We recognize the potential and importance of these routes, and we are pleased to contribute to air connectivity, the dynamization of the market and the significant economic and cultural exchange between these cities. Our commitment to travelers is to provide low prices without sacrificing the quality of service, with an introductory fee from US $30 per way, plus rates for each of these routes, leaving a total rate with rates of $128 USD from Cúcuta, $130 USD from Cartagena and $125 USD from Medellín to Lima. The new routes and these prices can be purchased from this day directly in www.jetsmart.com or through travel agencies,” said JetSmart’s Chief Commercial Officer Victor Mejia (above photo).

The airline says that it continues progressing towards certification to fly domestic routes, replacing a hole in the market left by the demise of Colombian low-cost carriers Viva and Ultra Air earlier this year. JetSmart recently entered a codeshare alliance with American Airlines, also an investor in the low-cost carrier, enabling convenient connections with baggage pass-through on connecting flights, and benefits for members of the AAdvantage loyalty program.

Photos: Loren Moss