Colombia’s Viva Air gets OK to fly to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport International Airport
Viva Air, Colombia’s low-cost carrier that is part of Grupo Viva, has received the go-ahead from the country’s aviation authority to begin flying from Bogotá and Medellín to the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (LMM) in Carolina.
As News is my Business first reported late last month, the two direct routes were part of a sweeping plan to expand from Colombia’s main airports to Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Peru, El Salvador, Panama, Brazil, Guatemala, Aruba, and the continental US.
The carrier applied for a total of 65 new routes.
“The authorized routes will offer a new range of possibilities to air transport users to find more alternatives within the market, provide more connection points within and outside the country and ratify the commitment of the national government to support the economic reactivation of the sectors derived from air activity, which already reaches 20 million passengers mobilized and is expected to reach 30 million by the end of 2021,” said Colombia’s Minister of Transport Camilo Pabón-Almanza.
This is the first authorization of its kind granted to a Colombian airline, the agency further stated. Viva Air began operating in May 2012.
The new routes will connect Bogotá and Medellín with San Juan, and will be flown on A-320, CEO and NEO aircraft.
The starting date for the new service has yet to be announced. Once it begins connecting Puerto Rico with Colombia, it will compete with Avianca and Copa Airlines, among others, for those markets.
