Viva Air Files For Major International Expansion, Seeks Permission For Flights To 6 New Cities In 4 New Countries

Colombian Low-Cost Carrier Viva has been making lots of noise recently, adding new routes as fast as it can take delivery from Airbus of its 50 new A320 jets. The company has recently begun flights from Medellín and Bogotá, Colombia to Cancún, México City, México, and Orlando Florida, but now, based on filings with Aerocivil, Colombia’s civil aviation authority, the airline has formally filed for “3^rd & 4^th Freedoms” (permission to fly passengers to and from an international destination) to fly daily routes from Medellín and Bogotá to Santiago Chile, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro Brazil, San José Costa Rica, and to both Buenos Aires and Córdoba, Argentina.

In addition to the new routes which would more than double Viva’s international reach, the Medellín-based airline has also filed for authorization to add domestic routes from Bucaramanga, Colombia to the Caribbean destinations of San Andrés, Cartagena and Barranquilla; and flights from the border city of Cúcuta to Cartagena and San Andrés.

Viva has not yet announced these routes, and Aerocivil has yet to issue final approval. Neither has confirmation been received from the destination countries. Generally, negotiations have taken place before authorization is filed.

Viva Air CEO Felix Antelo (pictured above), a native of Argentina himself, has stated publicly that the airline expects to connect North & South America “from Buenos Aires to New York” through its Medellín hub.

When contacted by Finance Colombia, a Viva spokesperson said “The request for new routes that Viva made is part of the pool of destinations that we evaluate as an airline conforming to our plan of expansion and internationalization. As the leading low-cost airline in the region, this request is part of our ‘Hub Medellín’ project which seeks to make this city our principal connection center.  These are some of the approximately 15 routes that we are exploring under our 3-year expansion plan.”