As part of its plan to open more than 50 routes in the coming years, Avianca had recently announced seven new flights and two other restarts, including three to and from Juan Santamaria International Airport serving San Jose, Costa Rica: Cartagena (CTG) and Medellin/Rionegro (MDE) in Colombia; and Quito (UIO) in Ecuador.
The company seeks to retake LACSA’s legacy, given that since its merger with TACA and later with Avianca, the country’s non-stop connectivity was affected. The return of these three destinations from San José by Avianca marks the resurgence of the base, currently with flights to Bogotá (BOG) in Colombia; San Salvador (SAL) in El Salvador; Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), and New York (JFK) in the United States; Guatemala City (GUA); Mexico City (MEX) and Cancun (CUN) in Mexico; and Lima (LIM) in Peru.
See also: Avianca boosts its flight network from Costa Rica to the United States and Mexico
Reyna Mejía, General Manager for Central America at Avianca, previously commented that «this is a major bet to strengthen tourism, business and connectivity of Costa Rica with the continent; we are confident in the response that the customer has been giving us to fill these flights».
To complete LACSA’s legacy in Costa Rica, flights to Guayaquil (GYE) in Ecuador; San Andres (ADZ) in Colombia; Managua (MGA) in Nicaragua; Caracas (CCS) in Venezuela; Havana (HAV) in Cuba; San Pedro Sula (SAP) and Tegucigalpa (TGU) in Honduras; Panama City (PTY); Santo Domingo (SDQ) in Dominican Republic should return.
See also: Reviving TACA/LACSA’s legacy: Avianca adds new flights between Central America and the United States
According to data obtained by Cirium, Avianca Holding currently ranks third in terms of seat supply in Costa Rica, with 16.3% of the market share.
Schedules and frequencies of new destinations
| Fligts | From | Departure | To | Arrival | Frequencies | Sart of operations |
| AV 645 | San José (SJO) | 06:40 | Medellín (MDE) | 09:35 | MO-FR-SU | March 27 |
| AV 644 | Medellín (MDE) | 10:30 | San José (SJO) | 11:25 | MO-FR-SU | March 27 |
| AV 649 | San José (SJO) | 10:15 | Cartagena (CTG) | 13:05 | TU-WE-FR-SU | March 27 |
| AV 648 | Cartagena (CTG) | 14:00 | San José (SJO) | 14:50 | TU-WE-FR-SU | March 27 |
| AV 647 | San José (SJO) | 10:25 | Quito (UIO) | 13:40 | MO-WE-SA | March 28 |
| AV 646 | Quito (UIO) | 14:35 | San José (SJO) | 15:50 | MO-WE-SA | March 28 |
Continuing with the Holding’s growth plan, this route would be the fourth international connection in Ecuador. The airline has direct flights to Bogota (BOG); San Salvador (SAL), Lima (LIM) and New York (JFK) from Guayaquil (GYE) and Quito (UIO); and plans future openings to Miami (MIA), Cali (CLO) and Medellin (MDE).
«Ecuador is becoming more and more relevant on the connectivity map and Avianca wants to be a fundamental part of this growth that ends up being a great contribution to tourism and the country’s economy,» said David Alemán, Avianca’s CEO for Central and South America.
