LATAM Airlines Colombia plans to fly to Venezuela

As reported by La República, LATAM Airlines Colombia has just announced that it has received the necessary authorization by the Colombian Civil Aeronautics to operate scheduled passenger flights to Venezuela, once the neighboring country authorizes Colombia for scheduled air services, the last operation between both countries was in March 2020.

For the first time the Colombian subsidiary of South America’s largest airline will have a route to Venezuela with non-stop service between Bogota (BOG) and Caracas (CCS). AeroCivil’s authorization is for passenger, cargo and mail flights, the authority has designated that it will operate seven weekly flights.

LATAM Airlines Colombia joins Wingo and Avianca airlines that have requested new routes to Venezuela with the intention of serving the cross-border air market of more than 2 million Venezuelan residents in Colombia.

See also: Back to Caracas: Avianca set to resume flights to Venezuela

Wingo prior to the pandemic crisis was the only Colombian airline to offer non-stop service to Venezuela with the Bogotá (BOG) – Caracas (CCS) route with four weekly flights on Boeing 737-700 aircraft.

Colombian airlines are waiting for the National Institute of Civil Aeronautics (INAC) to authorize regular passenger and cargo flights to Colombia, in order to start operations to Colombia.

Data obtained by Aviacionline through Aerocivil statistics indicates that 160,537 passengers were mobilized in 2019 between El Dorado International Airport (BOG) and Maiquetía Airport (CCS).

LATAM Airlines Group’s latest passenger operations in Venezuela

• Lima (LIM) – Caracas (CCS) a weekly flight in Airbus A319 ended on July 27, 2016.
• Sao Paulo (GRU) a weekly flight on Airbus A320 ended on May 28, 2016.
• Santiago (SCL) – Caracas (CCS) – Miami (MIA) a weekly flight on Boeing 767-300ER ended on October 21, 2015.

With this announcement LATAM Airlines could return to Venezuela after six years without operating in the country, it would also be the only international service of the company’s Colombian subsidiary. Currently the Chilean subsidiary offers flights between Santiago (SCL)) and Miami (MIA) via Bogota (BOG) with fifth freedom rights.

Prior to the pandemic, El Dorado International Airport (BOG) was connected to four Venezuelan destinations including: Caracas (CCS), Valencia (VLN), Maracaibo (MAR) and Barcelona (BCN). On the other hand, the Venezuelan capital had non-stop connections to Bogota (BOG), Medellin (MDE), Cali (CLO) and Barranquilla (BAQ).