With a determined commitment to encourage the development of the region, boost the country’s economy, and resume its expansion plans, Viva Air announces Medellín as its strategic Hub for operations and the José María Córdova international airport in Rionegro as its main connection center for deployment of its flights. With this, the airline seeks, not only to decongest and decentralize the El Dorado airport in the city of Bogotá, but also to provide travelers with unique opportunities by allowing direct access from Medellín to more markets, including new international destinations to the Mexico City, Cancun and Orlando. This underscores the efforts the airline is making to provide more opportunities to connect Colombia with the world.
Resuming the international expansion plans that were put on pause in 2020, Viva announces the opening of four new international routes that will connect Medellín – Mexico City, Medellín – Cancun, Medellín – Orlando and Bogotá – Mexico City. These new international routes are in addition to the airline’s most recent announcement of three new domestic routes to Bucaramanga and Cúcuta. Thus, there are already 26 domestic routes to 12 national destinations operated by the airline and seven international routes to five destinations in Peru, Mexico and the United States, transforming air transportation in Colombia with its Low Cost model.
“9 years ago, our story began among the mountains of the capital of Antioquia. Medellín is our home, here we were born and here we operate. As an airline we understand that aviation in Colombia cannot depend solely on Bogotá and a single airport. Therefore, we seek to make air connections from Medellín just as important as those from El Dorado. With the deployment of our strategy and air operations from Medellín, we hope to promote tourism, development and contribute to the economic reactivation of the entire region. Despite the challenges that the pandemic brought with it, our plans to connect Colombia inside and outside the country don’t stop. The inauguration of four new international routes ratifies our expansion plan and strengthens the commitment to the country’s connectivity,” commented Félix Antelo, president and CEO of the Viva Air Group. In addition, he highlighted that the strategic location of Medellín provides a tremendous advantage since it is the intermediate point of the two main existing connection centers in Latin America, in Bogotá and Panama.
Viva has its main offices in the municipality of Rionegro, a suburb of the city of Medellín, where it generates more than 400 direct jobs executing on its strategy and deploying operations. Additionally, the airline operates flights to 10 national and international destinations to and from the capital of Antioquia, demonstrating the company’s commitment to positioning the José María Córdova International Airport, in Rionegro, as the base for its air operations.
For its part, the Low-Cost airline will fly to Mexico City from Bogotá beginning June 2 and from Medellín starting June 8, 2021 with four flights a week. Likewise, it will begin operating the Medellín – Cancun route from June 2, with three flights a week. And finally, with the conviction of establishing Medellín as an operations HUB, the airline will begin operations on the Medellín – Orlando route from June 10 with three weekly flights.
Tickets are on sale through the website www.vivaair.com and will have inaugural rates starting at $189.90 USD round trip for the United States and $229.90 USD for Mexico. Thus, Viva makes low-cost flight a reality for all of Latin America, and expects travelers will experience the ‘Viva Effect’ in the reduction of rates by 39% in the case of the Medellín-Cancun route, for example, and 48% in the Medellín – Mexico City route.
Viva Air, an airline that has resumed 90% of its operations with a load factor of over 85% on its flights, emphasizes that the deployment of operations from the capital of Antioquia will allow it to make, thanks to the geographic location of Medellín, future direct connections between North and South America, facilitating the control of operating costs and thus more competitive rates for travelers.
This demonstrates how Viva promotes air inclusion in Colombia and expects that approximately 180 thousand passengers will benefit, during the first year of operation, from these new routes, which will allow more and more travelers to connect with the region and fly at low prices, with certified biosafety protocols and the best punctuality. Taking advantage of the advantages that the second most important airline in the Colombian air market brings with it and the direct connections that Medellín generates with the rest of the country and the world.