Month: March 2023

• With the launch of this new operation, the company will strengthen its presence in Ecuador and offer greater connectivity between South America and North America.
• With two weekly frequencies from Quito to Los Angeles, Avianca Cargo will favor the floriculture sector by diversifying the gateway for this product to the United States.
• The launch of this new operation took place at the International Cargo Terminal of Quito’s Mariscal Sucre Airport, in the company of the Vice Ministry of Transportation Services and Public Works, Quiport and Expoflores.

In response to the growth of the air cargo sector and its commitment to the development of the Ecuadorian market, Avianca Cargo announced the expansion of its capacity with the inauguration of its new cargo destination: Los Angeles.

With two frequencies a week between Quito and Los Angeles, Avianca Cargo will strengthen its presence in the region and provide greater connectivity between the two cities, operating the Quito – Bogotá – Los Angeles route, in order to increase the number of tons transported to North America which currently represent 80% of the weekly tons exported by the company from Ecuador.

In the same way, it will allow it to diversify the ports of entry of flowers to North America, adding this destination to Miami as an already existing point and through which it sent nearly 18,000 tons in around 300 flights operated from Ecuador and Colombia in the recent season of Valentine’s Day.

“At Avianca Cargo we continue to connect the South American markets with the world. Now with a second point of entry to the USA and connections via Los Angeles. With this cargo inauguration, in addition to delivering a more robust service proposal to our customers, we will continue promoting the competitiveness of the flower industry, since 75% of the cargo we export from Ecuador, under the highest quality standards and on the required times, corresponds to flowers grown by Ecuadorian hands,” said Juan Cruz Correa, Vice President of Sales for Avianca Cargo.

With the CEIV Fresh certification granted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the award as the airline of America with Logistics Excellence in perishable air cargo at the STAT Awards, Avianca Cargo guarantees the rigorous handling of shipments sensitive to time and temperature , like flowers and other products such as fruits and fish, which represent the other 20% of the cargo exported from Ecuador.

José Luis Aguilar, Vice Minister of Transportation Services and Public Works, stated, “the joint work between the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works and commercial airlines brings good results. Our commitment is to improve the air transport conditions to strengthen the commercial and productive development of our country. We congratulate all the efforts of Avianca Cargo for the opening of its new cargo route from Quito to Los Angeles, which will boost the revitalization of the country’s productivity. They always have our support.”

Ramón Miró, president and CEO of Corporación Quiport, congratulated the airline for its decision and thanked them for the trust placed in the airport, also adding: “The air cargo operation at the Quito International Airport has established itself as the most big in the country. With 290,000 metric tons transported in 2022, today we are the main port for air cargo transportation in Ecuador and we occupy an important place in Latin America by annual cargo volume. This has turned the Quito airport into an increasingly outstanding development pole, promoting not only tourism, but also productive activities oriented towards exports, especially flowers, but also fruit and other products,” he concluded.

As part of this growth plan and with around 10 weekly average frequencies, the company expects to increase the cargo exported to Los Angeles.

Flights began yesterday on the Quito-Medellín route and on Tuesday March 28th operations begin from Guayaquil to Medellín and Cartagena.

The airline has the most important flight offer between Ecuador and Colombia, adding a total of 56 weekly flights that connect to Bogotá, Medellín and Cartagena; which means more than 10,000 seats available for Ecuadorian passengers.

The connectivity network that Avianca offers from Ecuador now includes 11 international destinations, consolidating itself as the main air operator in the country.

With more than 150 passengers, at 5:00 p.m. yesterday, flight AV8386 took off from Quito’s Mariscal Sucre International Airport, with which Avianca inaugurated the Quito-Medellín route, thus expanding the options of destinations to which passengers can enter to Colombia directly. This route will operate 4 times a week on Monday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday in Airbus A320 aircraft, with itineraries that are suitable for tourism or business trips.

In addition, next Tuesday 28th, Avianca will also begin its flights on the Guayaquil-Medellín and Guayaquil-Cartagena routes, which have an occupancy rate of more than 90% and with which the airline will add a total of 11 non-stop routes and a 56 weekly flights from Ecuador to Bogotá, Medellín and Cartagena, according to the following table:

Origin	Destination	Weekly flights
Cartagena	Guayaquil	3
Medellín	Guayaquil	3
	Quito	4
Bogotá	Quito	27
	Guayaquil	19

Within the inauguration ceremony of the Quito-Medellín route, María Beatriz González, Commercial Manager of Avianca pointed out that “with the start of these routes we continue working on our commitment to connect Ecuador with the main markets and strategic destinations in a direct way, facilitating more and more travel and connectivity for hundreds of families who travel for tourism and business. We are an important articulator of tourism and the country’s economy”. And he added that “the opening of these routes are the result of joint work with authorities and concessionaires to offer greater connectivity to and from Ecuador,” González said.

Dario Herrera, Minister of Transportation and Public Works stated that, “our goal is to increase new frequencies and exceed the number of operations we had before the pandemic. To meet this objective, the Government of Ecuador maintains an open skies policy, an example of which is the direct flights to Cartagena and Medellín. With these new destinations we offer better options to travelers, attract international investment and benefit the economic development of our country”.

In this regard, the Minister of Tourism, Niels Olsen, recalled that “one of the commitments at the beginning of the government of President Guillermo Lasso was to improve connectivity, which is being fulfilled by providing facilities for more airlines to increase their routes and frequencies , as it is the case of Avianca, which on this occasion brings travelers from Colombia closer to Ecuador. This fills us with joy as we continue to connect our country with the world and we will continue to receive more tourists who, with their visits, support the revitalization of the country’s economy,” he said.

For Carmen Caballero, President of ProColombia, “it is great news that Avianca continues to connect Colombia with Ecuador, a very important market for the promotion of our country. Thanks to this new air connection, we are achieving our goal of increasing international connectivity to increase the flow of travelers and, in addition, facilitate business between the two countries. As of the last week of March, we hope that hundreds of Ecuadorians will have the opportunity to learn about our wide range of sustainable tourism and in harmony with life.”

Ramón Miró, President and CEO of Quiport highlights that “through this flight between Quito and Medellín we strengthen the historical, cultural and economic ties between Colombia and Ecuador. Avianca has been able to adequately read the potential of this new route and on our side, Quiport and the Municipality of Quito continue to support Avianca so that the growth of its operations at the Mariscal Sucre airport is successful. We love seeing how Avianca’s presence is growing at our airport. We thank you for your trust and for betting on us”.

With the opening of these routes, Avianca continues to consolidate as the airline with the most destinations and seats available that connects directly to Latin America, becoming stronger and offering more affordable prices so that everyone can fly on a network of 132 routes with more of 3,800 weekly flights and an offer of almost 650,000 seats

The Quiport Corporation Route Development team and officials from the Ministry of Tourism are at the Routes Americas 2023 event, the main forum for air routes in the Americas, focused on providing negotiation opportunities for both airlines and airports worldwide.

Quiport’s participation in this important meeting has the objective of stimulating the recovery of air connectivity between Quito and Ecuador, through meetings with airlines from the region and the entire world. During the three days of the forum, from March 21 to 23, Quiport representatives spoke with 14 airlines in individual meetings in order to explore opportunities for new routes and frequencies operating from the Quito airport.

In this regard, Ramón Miró, president and CEO of Quiport, commented: “For the Quito airport, Routes Americas represents the best opportunity to talk face to face with the airlines interested in a potential operation in Quito. We have been participating in Routes since 2008 with excellent results for connectivity”.

The results of the meetings held at Routes Americas will be seen in the medium term, since the airlines will study in detail the proposals received in an arduous process that can take months or years; It is for this reason that both the private and public sectors work together, continuously, to promote Quito and Ecuador in important forums of the air transport industry on an international scale.

Nomad, from the Travel Stores group, inaugurated a new space inside the Quito airport terminal in the A3 national pre-boarding hall, where it offers a variety of essential products for travelers such as reading material, mobile phone accessories, toiletries, among others.

The inauguration of this space was celebrated with an event that included the participation of authorities from the Public Airport Services Company (EPMSA), Travel Stores and, of course, Corporación Quiport, concessionaire of the Quito airport.

“Travel Stores is one of our oldest strategic partners, it has been with us practically from the beginning of the operation with a commercial offer that is absolutely relevant to the passenger profile. Its operation has continued to grow until it has a significant presence at the airport. The opening of Nomad is another sign of the growth that our airport continues to experience”, were the words of Ramón Miró, president and CEO of Quiport.

Katya Bastidas, general manager of EPMSA, congratulated Travel Stores for its commitment, not only in terms of service but also the productivity of the city; besides, for prioritizing the hiring of personnel who live in the areas surrounding the airport. “Thank you Travel Stores for being an active part of this great team at the airport, thank you for being here and for supporting us,” she added.

Francisco Dalmau, general manager of Travel Stores, thanked Quiport and EPMSA for the support provided, and the entire airport community, exalting that it is a pride to feel part of the Quito airport community.

“Nomad was born as a concept of a passenger convenience store, with a unique identity, alluding to the middle of the world and Quito, especially. The purpose of locating this space is to provide the passenger with a last point of purchase for the most essential products, and a faultless experience during their passage through this airport that has shown excellent management,” he concluded.

With the opening of this space, Travel Stores has two Nomad brand stores in the airport departures area.

For the first time Quito, Ecuador is connected directly and non-stop with Cancun, Mexico.

The route will begin operations on June 16 with 3 flights a week.

Tickets, already on sale, offer prices starting at USD $89 plus taxes for a single trip.

Viva Aerobus also offers connections from Cancun to 18 destinations within Mexico.

The Ministry of Tourism of Ecuador; Quito Tourism; the State Government of Quintana Roo, Mexico; Quiport, operator of Quito International Airport; and Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASUR), operator of Cancun International Airport, celebrated the launch of the new Quito-Cancun international route operated by the ultra-low cost Mexican airline, Viva Aerobus. This is a unique service that will currently connect the Ecuadorian capital directly and non-stop with one of the most iconic sun and beach destinations in Mexico.

The Governor of Quintana Roo, Mara Lezama Espinosa, expressed that the growing connectivity offered by Viva in Cancun further strengthens the popularity of these Mexican beaches nationally and internationally. “All of us in Quintana Roo are very excited to receive many more Ecuadorian visitors so that they can discover our endless natural, cultural, historical, gastronomic, and recreational offer,” he mentioned.

The route will begin operations on June 16 with three flights a week. Tickets, already on sale, offer prices starting at USD $89 plus taxes for a single trip. Passengers will also have the opportunity to fly in the youngest fleet in Mexico made up of Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft with an average age of only 5.28 years.

“Welcome Long Live Aerobus! We are convinced that this new route marks a before and after in the air connectivity of the Ecuadorian capital. It is one more step that brings us closer to our mission of turning Ecuador into a leading and competitive tourist destination in all of Latin America,” said Niels Olsen, Minister of Tourism of Ecuador.

“We thank Viva Aerobus for building this beneficial bridge for

both countries and cities. We want more Mexicans in Quito so that they have the opportunity to learn about its extraordinary cultural richness and thus exceed our visitor goal set for this year,” said María Cristina Rivadeneira, General Manager of Quito Turismo.

These new flights, with an average duration of 4 hours, will serve an air market with great potential, making more than 58,000 seats available to passengers per year. On the one hand, according to the most recent information from the Ministry of Tourism of Mexico, Ecuador is among the 25 countries that generate the greatest flow of visitors by air to Mexico.

On the other hand, according to what was reported by the Municipality of Quito regarding tourism in 2022, Mexico ranked sixth among the countries that sent more tourists to Ecuador.

In order to meet this need for air connectivity between the two countries, Viva Aerobus will land in Quito with a proven experience of 16 years of operations in Mexico, more than 100 million passengers transported, close to 4,000 collaborators and a service that combines low prices, new planes and point to point flights. As a result of this value proposition, Viva Aerobus has positioned itself as one of the Mexican airlines with the highest growth rate in terms of passengers, with an expanding route network and a comprehensive connectivity offer.

“We love witnessing the growth and commitment of Viva Aerobus in Cancun, a city where more than 25 routes operate, being our natural allies to make this destination even more accessible and that our visitors continue to increase year after year,” said Carlos Trueba Coll, Director of Cancun Airport.

“At Quito International Airport, recognized worldwide for its management, service and infrastructure, we are 100% prepared to receive this new Mexican airline that without a doubt, will mark a milestone for the dynamism and passenger traffic in our capital with an unprecedented route”, declared Ramón Miró, President and CEO of Quiport.

Regarding this unique service that Viva Aerobus will provide, the airline also highlights that this new route not only connects two cities, but it also makes available to Ecuadorian passengers a wide range of flights that connect Cancun with 18 destinations within Mexico.

“We are full of enthusiasm to arrive in this beautiful country and to be able to serve its passengers with customer-focused service, a modern fleet and low prices so that people can get the most out of their trips, while favoring the local economic benefit. Thank you very much to the Ecuadorian authorities who have given us a warm welcome and to Quintana Roo for always opening the doors for us to continue growing in one of Mexico’s flagship sun and beach destinations,” said Juan Carlos Zuazua, General Director of Viva Aerobus. “With Viva Aerobus, Ecuador and Mexico couldn’t be closer,” he said.

Passengers can purchase their tickets on the official Viva airline website: at VivaTiendas (Mexico), on the Viva App or by calling the Call Center (LADA toll-free) 0181 82 150 150.