By Juan Pedro Sanchez Zamudio
Viva Air Adds Three International Routes, Establishes New Hub in Colombia
Viva Air, the Colombian low-cost airline, announced the launch of new routes as part of its international expansion process. The carrier will be operating direct flights from Medellín, Colombia to Mexico City, Cancún, Mexico and Orlando, Florida.
The Colombian low-cost carrier expects to transport around 180,000 passengers during the first year of operation of these three new routes and seeks to decentralize the international operation of the El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá to offer connections from the José María Córdova international Airport in Rionegro (Medellín).
According to Volavi, the expected itinerary and introduction prices are included in the table below:
| Route | Departure Time (GMT-5) | Arrival Time (GMT-5) | Frequency | Beginning Date | Round Trip Price |
| Bogotá – Mexico City | 16:50 | 21:50 | 4 weekly flights | June 2, 2021 | $250 |
| Mexico City – Bogotá | 23:20 | 4:20 (next day) | |||
| Medellín – Mexico City | 20:52 | 1:22 (next day) | 4 weekly flights | June 8, 2021 | $250 |
| Mexico City – Medellín | 2:52 | 7:22 | |||
| Medellín – Cancún | 10:40 | 14:03 | 3 weekly flights | June 2, 2021 | $230 |
| Cancún – Medellín | 15:13 | 18:28 | |||
| Medellín – Orlando | 10:20 | 15:17 | 3 weekly flights | June 10, 2021 | $190 |
| Orlando – Medellín | 16:47 | 19:42 |
With this announcement, Viva Air will be operating 26 domestic routes in Colombia to 12 destinations and 7 international routes to 5 destinations in Peru, Mexico and the United States.
“At Viva we have a clear conviction: it is time to decentralize flights in Colombia, to make Medellín our strategic connection hub for the region. This will be our great project for 2021, the most challenging and exciting for Viva in its 9-year history,” said Félix Antelo, president and CEO of Grupo Viva Air.
Viva Air has chosen Medellín as its main hub in part because of its geographic location, as the city is located in the middle of two two Latin American main hubs: Bogotá and Panama.
“Medellín is our home, here we were born, here we are strengthened and here we continue to deploy our operations where today we are the main airline with a 40% market share. As an airline, our commitment is to encourage the development of the region, boost the country’s economy and for this reason we understand that aviation in Colombia cannot depend solely on Bogotá and a single airport, therefore, we seek that air connections from Medellín are the same more important than those of El Dorado (International Airport in Bogotá)”, Antelo continued.
The José María Córdova international Airport in Rionegro (Medellín) remains an attractive to several airlines not only due to its location, but also because of its low operating costs and extensive facilities available.
In 2019, around 10 million passengers transited through the airport terminal, well below of its potential. This was further reduced to only 3.1 million passengers in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the second most important city for business transactions in Colombia outside of Bogota, Medellín has a critical role to play in the nation’s continued growth.
Viva Air will hope to capitalize on this available capacity and bring back both business and leisure travelers to the skies.
The three things Juan Pedro loves most about aviation are aircraft, airports, and traveling thousands of miles in just a few hours. What he enjoys the most about aviation is that it is easier and cheaper to travel around the world and this gives you the opportunity to visit places you thought were too far away. He has traveled to different destinations in North, Central, South America and Asia. Born, raised and still living in Perú, Juan is a lawyer, soccer lover, foodie, passionate traveler, dog lover, millennial and curious by nature.