As of Wednesday, June 2, 2021, Avianca airlines will resume its operations between San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Bogotá, Colombia.
According to the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, these direct flights will generate an estimated economic impact of $1.5 million.
Initially, the route will resume with two weekly flights, and is projected to increase during the summer and autumn months until reaching a frequency of one daily flight in December of this year.
Avianca, the second largest airline in Latin America, will utilize Airbus A319 and A320 model aircrafts with a capacity of 120 and 150 passengers respectively, which will result in an estimated minimum of 7,440 visitors traveling between BOG and SJU in June to December.
Connecting with South America
The chief executive officer of Aerostar Puerto Rico, Jorge Hernández states: “For Puerto Rico, Colombia is the 'window' to South America. As it is an attractive destination, both for leisure and business travelers, this is an important market for us. With Avianca’s resumption of flights between our capital cities, the direct connection to this sister country is beginning to be restored after the challenges presented by the pandemic.”
The executive director of the Puerto Rico Ports Authority, Joel A. Pizá Batiz, added that the resumption of direct flights between San Juan and Bogota, “is a great step forward by once again offering Puerto Ricans an important gateway, not only with the sister country of Colombia, but also with all of Central and South America. At the same time, it represents an excellent opportunity to promote Puerto Rico and attract more tourists and businesses to the island, which will certainly further boost the tourism economy and Puerto Rico's economic development.”