Route Analysis: Santiago-Medellín 

JetSMART has further expanded its presence on routes between Chile and Colombia as it seeks to take market share from Avianca and LATAM Airlines Group.

The ULCC entered the Colombian market two years ago, launching flights from Chile’s capital Santiago (SCL) to Bogota (BOG) and Cali (CLO), followed by a route between Antofagasta (ANF) and Cali.

As well as increasing frequencies on all three existing routes this month, the airline has also launched a new service from Santiago to Medellín, the capital of Colombia’s mountainous Antioquia province.

Flights started on Dec. 1 and will be offered twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays using Airbus A320s. The 4,426-km (2,750-mi.) route, which was originally earmarked to begin in July but delayed because of COVID-19 travel restrictions, is Medellín’s only nonstop flight to Chile.

According to data provided by Sabre Market Intelligence, O&D traffic between Santiago and Medellín totaled 45,050 two-way passengers in 2019, a rise of 12% on the previous 12 months. As there was no direct service, the top connecting market was BOG, followed by Lima (LIM) in Peru. JetSMART’s new service will likely target VFR and leisure traffic.

Alongside the launch, data provided by OAG Schedules Analyser shows the carrier is increasing gradually frequencies on SCL-BOG and SCL-CLO from 3X-weekly in early November to daily by early January. ANF-CLO is also rising from 1X-weekly to 3X-weekly.

For the week commencing Jan. 3, 2022, the latest schedules reveal that JetSMART intends to offer 7,068 two-way seats between Chile and Colombia, giving it a 38.8% capacity share of the market. During the same week, LATAM will have a 34% share, Avianca a 19.1% share, and Sky Airline an 8.1% share.

SCL-MDE