Ultra Air Looks To Launch 33 International Routes From Colombia

The Colombian ultra-low-cost carrier Ultra Air is looking to increase its domestic and international connectivity heavily and is eyeing the launch of 40 new routes, including 33 international, from five airports in Colombia.

Ultra Air is looking to fly to new destinations

Ultra Air is a small carrier that launched operations in Colombia early this year. Based in Medellín International Airport (MDE), Ultra Air currently operates with a fleet of six Airbus A320 aircraft and is looking to keep adding routes.

According to a recently released document by Colombia’s civil aviation authorities, Ultra Air is looking to fly to 15 international destinations in the Americas, in countries such as Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, Cuba, Panama, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and the United States. The ultra-low-cost carrier would launch 33 international routes from five cities in Colombia: Medellín, Cartagena (CTG), Pereira (PEI), Cali (CLO), and Barranquilla (BAQ). These are the new routes Ultra Air requested permission to operate:

1. From Barranquilla: Miami (MIA), Cancun (CUN), Punta Cana (PUJ), Santo Domingo (SDQ), and Caracas (CCS).
2. From Cali: Guayaquil (GYE), Esmeralda (ESM), Quito (UIO), Miami, Cancun, Panama City (PTY), Balboa-Panama (BLB), Punta Cana, Santo Domingo, and Caracas.
3. From Cartagena: Miami, Panama City, Santo Domingo, and Caracas.
4. From Medellín: San José (SJO), Havana (HAV), Quito, Tampa (TPA), Panama City, Balboa-Panama, Cuzco (CUZ), San Juan (SJU), Santo Domingo, Caracas, Valencia (VLN), and Porlamar (PMV).
5. From Pereira: Panama City, and Balboa-Panama.

These routes would be operated with Airbus A320ceo and A320neo aircraft. Ultra Air currently operates only with A320ceo jetliners.

Photo: Great Circle Mapper.

Are these routes contested?

This is an aggressive plan of expansion by Ultra Air which currently does not operate internationally and has around 398 weekly domestic flights, per Cirium.

Some of the routes sought by Ultra Air are currently uncontested. For instance, from Barranquilla, the services to Miami and Santo Domingo are now operated (by American Airlines and Arajet, respectively).

From Cali, five of the routes are currently operated; these are the services to Miami (American Airlines), Panama City (Copa Airlines), Santo Domingo (Arajet), Balboa, and Cancun (Wingo).

From Cartagena de Indias, three routes are already operated. American Airlines flies to Miami (MIA), Copa Airlines to Panama City (PTY), and Arajet to Santo Domingo (SDQ).

From Medellín, there are seven routes already in operation, mainly by Wingo, which flies to Balboa, Caracas, Havana, Panama City, and Santo Domingo. Meanwhile, Avianca flies to San José and Copa Airlines to Panama City.

Finally, from Pereira, only the route to Panama City is operated, by Copa Airlines. Overall, 17 of the 33 routes requested by Ultra Air already have one or two players.

Photo: Airbus.

Ultra Air is also looking to increase its domestic connectivity

Finally, the Colombian ULCC is also looking to add new domestic routes in Colombia. The carrier requested permission to operate seven new routes, four from Cali and one from Cartagena, Medellín, and Barranquilla each.

From Cali, Ultra Air wants to fly to Pasto (PSO), Montería (MTR), Bucaramanga (BGA), and Valledupar (VUP). Meanwhile, from Cartagena, Ultra Air expects to fly to Cúcuta (CUC), from Medellín to Pereira (PEI), and from Barranquilla to Montería (MTR).

What do you think about Ultra Air’s announced international routes? Which one is the most promising? Let us know in the comments below.