The Colombian carrier Avianca is set to launch two new routes to Mexico City, increasing its connectivity between both countries. Additionally, the airline will also resume flying to Madrid from Cali and Medellin after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Let’s investigate further.
Avianca’s new flights to Mexico
Last year, Avianca launched 17 new routes, improving its connectivity across Latin America. In 2022, the airline is looking to keep adding to that success, as Avianca has one goal in mind: to have up to 200 routes by 2023.
Yesterday, the Colombian flag carrier announced two new routes connecting the South American country with Mexico. Starting on March 27 and 29, Avianca will begin flying between Cali and Medellin to Mexico City, respectively.
Currently, the airline only flies between Bogota and Mexico City, as well as flights from Bogota and Medellin to Cancun. Avianca uses a variety of aircraft on these routes, from the Airbus A319 (between Cancun and Medellin) to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner (between Mexico and Bogota).
Once Avianca launches these new routes, it will compete directly with low-cost carrier Viva, Copa Airlines’ branch in Colombia, Wingo, and Mexican carrier, Aeromexico.
Avianca will have four round weekly flights between Cali and Mexico City, with over 1,200 seats available. The airline will operate flights AV100 and AV101 on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
Meanwhile, the route between Cali and Mexico City will have three round flights per week, with over 900 seats available. Avianca will operate these flights, AV34 and AV35, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.
Resuming connectivity: back to Madrid
After a two-year hiatus, Avianca is set to resume its connectivity from Medellin and Cali to Madrid. Currently, the airline is only flying the routes Bogota-Madrid and Bogota-Barcelona, offering 186 monthly flights and 46,000 seats. Compared to 2019 levels, Avianca is still 53% below its pre-pandemic levels. Back then, Avianca also flew the following routes to Europe: Bogota-Munich, Medellin-Madrid, Cali-Madrid, and Bogota-London.
Avianca will resume the Cali-Madrid route on March 27, operating flights AV14 and AV15 on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Meanwhile, the Medellin-Madrid route flights AV16 and AV17 will begin on March 29, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.
Ana María Copete, Sales Director for Avianca in Colombia said in a statement,
“We will continue opening more direct routes to our clients, with fewer scales and providing them more time to enjoy their trips. Mexico closed in 2021 with over 30 million tourists and Spain with over 15 million. We want to take the Colombian travelers to their most beloved destinations and improve the tourist arrivals into our country.”
Avianca’s recovery so far
As of January 2022, Avianca is offering 10,828 flights and 1.7 million seats, according to Cirium. The airline is still 23.2% and 18.6% below its pre-pandemic traffic levels due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the Colombian recovery and Avianca exiting Chapter 11 late last year, the airline still has work to be done before fully rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic. In Colombia, the airline’s top five routes are, on average, 23.02% below 2019 levels. These routes are Medellin-Bogota, Cali-Bogota, Bogota-Cartagena, Bogota-Barranquilla, and Pereira-Bogota.
Are you interested in flying with Avianca from Medellin and Cali to Mexico City? Which other routes should Avianca explore in the next few months? Let us know in the comments below.
