On the morning of January 24, JetSMART unveiled the start of its domestic operations in Colombia, connecting five cities with seven routes. Inaugural flights will commence on March 14, 2024, with an introductory price starting at COL 30,000 (~ USD 7.63).
The airline plans to initially deploy three Airbus A320neo, each with a capacity of 186 passengers. Notable among them is the first NEO directly delivered from the factory in Mobile, USA, identified with the registration CC-AWZ and adorned with the image of a «Scarlet Macaw».
At the end of November 2023, JetSMART reached a crucial milestone in establishing itself in Colombia by completing the third phase of its certification process, according to the Colombian Aeronautical Regulation (RAC), moving towards obtaining the Certificate of Air Operator (COA) in Colombia.
The ultra low cost, owned by Indigo Partners, which finances airlines such as Volaris (Mexico), Wizz Air (Europe and Middle East), and Frontier Airlines (United States), aims to fill the void left by the failed VIVA and Ultra in early 2023.
The Colombian domestic market experienced a 9.4% decline last year compared to 2022, following the cessation of operations of both low cost carriers, registering 29.7 million passengers with an occupancy factor of 79%. However, Avianca, LATAM, Wingo and CLIC have expanded their operations to meet demand.
One of the challenges facing JetSMART is slots at El Dorado Airport, which have proved unpredictable and ambiguous in the current commercial landscape. This contrasts with the beginning of last year, when VIVA and Ultra Air, now defunct, had a 25% presence at the airport.
JetSMART faces competition on all its routes
Colombia, with its complex geography divided by the Andes Mountains, has a competitive air market with high passenger traffic. The Bogotá-Medellín and Bogotá-Cali routes are considered among the ten busiest in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA).
JetSMART will compete directly with Avianca on all its links, with LATAM and Wingo on six of them. In addition, it will face indirect competition with Clic! on two routes and with SATENA on one.
According to information provided on the airline’s website, JetSMART is expected to initially operate 113 weekly flights in each direction, offering a total of 42,036 seats per week. The projection is to carry more than 2 million passengers in the first year of operation.
- Bogota (BOG) – Cartagena (CTG): JetSMART will operate 20 weekly flights and will compete with Avianca (141 weekly flights); LATAM (74) and Wingo (16). The route begins on March 15.
- Bogota (BOG) – Medellin (MDE): JetSMART will operate from March 14 28 weekly flights competing with Avianca (188 flights per week); LATAM (106) and Wingo (40). Indirectly it competes with Clic (21 weekly flights) and SATENA (27 weekly flights), which operates from Olaya Herrera airport (EOH).
- Bogota (BOG) – Pereira (PEI): As of March 21 JetSMART will operate 12 weekly flights and will compete with Avianca (95 weekly flights); LATAM (29); Wingo (5) and Clic (4).
- Bogota (BOG) – Santa Marta (SMR): JetSMART will operate 14 weekly flights competing with Avianca (77 flights per week); LATAM (41); and Wingo (17), with scheduled start-up on March 19.
- Medellín (MDE) – Cartagena (CTG): JetSMART will operate from March 18, 21 weekly flights versus 77 from Avianca, 16 from LATAM and 5 from Wingo. At Medellín’s Olaya Herrera airport, Clic offers seven weekly flights to Cartagena.
- Medellín (MDE) – Santa Marta (SMR): JetSMART will operate 14 weekly flights competing with Avianca (14); LATAM (11) and Wingo (4). The route will be inaugurated on March 20.
- Pereira (PEI) – Cartagena (CTG): Starting March 22 JetSMART will offer 4 weekly flights competing with Avianca (14 per week).
According to the approvals granted by Aerocivil, JetSMART intends to operate up to 27 domestic routes:
- Bogota: Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Cali, Cali, Cartagena, Cúcuta, Medellín/Rionegro, Montería, Pasto, Pereira, San Andrés and Santa Marta.
- Medellín: Barranquilla, Cali, Cartagena, Cúcuta, Montería, Pasto, Pereira, San Andrés and Santa Marta.
- Cali: Cartagena.
- Cartagena: Cúcuta, Pereira and San Andrés.
- Pereira: Bucaramanga and Cúcuta.
- Barranquilla: Cúcuta.
Complementary international operations
In addition to its domestic routes, JetSMART operates up to 32 weekly flights from Peru and Chile to five Colombian cities. This facilitates connections with other destinations in JetSMART’s network to Argentina, Brazil and other domestic destinations in Peru and Chile.
- From Santiago (SCL):
- Bogota (BOG); with seven weekly flights.
- Cali (CLO); with seven weekly flights.
- Medellín/Rionegro (MDE); with four weekly flights.
- From Lima (LIM):
- Cartagena (CTG); with three weekly flights.
- Cúcuta (CUC); with three weekly flights.
- Medellín/Rionegro (MDE); with four weekly flights.
- From Antofagasta (ANF):
- Cali (CLO); with four weekly flights.
