Viva Air Expands Internationally With New Routes From Colombia To Orlando, Florida, México City, & Cancún, MX

Bucking the general trend in the aviation & tourism sectors, Viva Air today announced further international expansion with new routes between its Medellín hub and Orlando Florida, México City, and Cancún, México (above image), along with a new route between Mexico City and Colombia’s capital of Bogotá. This adds Orlando to Miami as Viva’s second route into the United States, and the Medellín-based airline’s first two destination into México.

All routes go on sale now for flights beginning in June. With these international expansions, coming barely a week after the airline announced new routes to the Colombian cities of Bucaramanga & Cúcuta, Viva Air also reaffirms its commitment to its hub and home base airport of José Maria Córdova international airport (MDE), in the Medellín suburb of Rionegro. Colombia’s largest international airport of Bogotá hosts the most international and domestic flights but suffers from congestion and overcrowding. A foundational part of Viva Air’s corporate strategy has been its bet on Colombia’s second largest airport’s, lower costs, relative lack of congestion, and ample excess capacity as its primary hub and headquarters location.

Viva Air has resumed 90% of its pre COVID operations with a load factor of over 85%

“9 years ago, our story began among the mountains of the capital of Antioquia. Medellín is our home, here we were born and here we operate. As an airline we understand that aviation in Colombia cannot depend solely on Bogotá and a single airport. Therefore, we seek to make air connections from Medellín just as important as those from El Dorado,” said Felix Antelo, CEO of Viva Air. “With the deployment of our strategy and air operations from Medellín, we hope to promote tourism, development and contribute to the economic reactivation of the entire region. Despite the challenges that the pandemic brought with it, our plans to connect Colombia inside and outside the country don’t stop. The inauguration of four new international routes ratifies our expansion plan and strengthens the commitment to the country’s connectivity.” Viva Air already employs over 400 between the airport operations and the corporate headquarters just yards beyond the end of the runway, outside of airport property.

These new flights bring Viva Air’s route map to 24 destinations within Colombia, Peru, the US and México, including 12 different cities in Colombia and 5 Peruvian cities. Medellín – Orlando inaugural flights will start at $189.90 USD round trip, and $229.90 for México. Viva Air expects to see competing air fares drop between Colombia & México by between 39% and 48% due to what it calls the “Viva Effect.”

Inaugural prices (USD):

• Medellín – Mexico City: $249.90 round trip
• Bogotá – Mexico City: $249.90 round trip
• Medellín – Cancun: $229.90 round trip
• Medellín – Orlando: $189.90 round trip

Inaugural flights:

• Medellin – Mexico City: June 8
• Bogotá – Mexico City: June 2
• Medellín – Cancun: June 2
• Medellín – Orlando: June 10

Weekly frequencies:

• Medellin – Mexico City: 4 flights a week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday)
• Bogotá – Mexico City: 4 flights a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday)
• Medellín – Cancun: 3 flights a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday)
• Medellín – Orlando: 3 flights a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)

Number of passengers expected in the first year:

• Medellín – Mexico City: 60,800
• Bogotá – Mexico City: 60,460
• Medellin – Cancun: 34,900
• Medellin – Orlando: 27,700

Cancún, México Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay Minnie & Mickey Mouse Image by Momentmal from Pixabay