27 Mar 2023

FROM THIS WEEK, THREE NEW AVIANCA ROUTES CONNECT QUITO AND GUAYAQUIL WITH THE COFFEE COUNTRY OF COLOMBIA

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