Avianca is planning to add more flight options between Latin America and the US by launching five new routes before the end of the year.
Three services are being opened to New York John F Kennedy (JFK), while Los Angeles (LAX) and Washington Dulles (IAD) will each receive one. In addition, the airline intends to reactivate seven routes that have been suspended during the pandemic.
“One of the added values that our travelers have is the multiple options of routes and itineraries that allow them to connect directly, avoiding stopovers when they do not require them and at the time they need,” Avianca director of sales for Colombia Ana María Copete said.
“The positive behavior of the routes that we have launched this year shows us that we are on the right path towards 2022.”
In December, Avianca intends to open direct flights between Cali (CLO) in Colombia and New York. The route will be served three times per week using 150-seat Airbus A320s and will provide competition with American Airlines, which began flying between the destinations in May and currently offers daily service.
San Jose’s Juan Santamaría International (SJO) in Costa Rica will also be connected with JFK—a route last served by Avianca Costa Rica in 2013. The flights will rival American Airlines, JetBlue Airways and United Airlines. OAG Schedules Analyser data shows JetBlue and United currently operate nonstop service, while American will resume JFK-SJO flights in November.
The third route to New York will see Avianca offer flights from Guayaquil (GYE) in Ecuador. The market is already served nonstop by Eastern Airlines and JetBlue, and LATAM Airlines Group plans to restart service in November.
The remaining two new US routes will connect San Jose with Los Angeles and Guatemala City (GUA) with Washington Dulles. Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue and United fly SJO-LAX nonstop, and United serves the GUA-IAD market.
The planned US network additions are among 23 new routes that Avianca outlined in August as services it hopes to launch over the coming months.
After resuming Bogota (BOG)-Rio de Janeiro (GIG) flights on Sept. 1, the Colombian carrier also said seven other routes would be gradually reinstated between now and January. Bogota-Asuncion (ASU) resumes in September and San Salvador (SAL)-Panama City (PTY) returns in November.
In December, flights will restart between Bogota and Montevideo (MVD); San José and Panama City; Guatemala City and Miami (MIA); and Guatemala City and New York. Finally, Quito (UIO)-El Coca (OCC) returns in January 2022.
Photo credit: Rob Finlayson
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