Viva Colombia Launches Latest International Route: Cartagena-Mexico City

A week after launching the flights from Bogotá (BOG) and Medellín (MDE), Colombia, to Buenos Aires (EZE), Argentina, the ultra-low-cost carrier Viva has opened a new route. Viva is now operating a new service between Cartagena de Indias (CTG) and Mexico City Benito Juárez International (MEX).

The newest route

On Wednesday, Viva Colombia began the international commercial service between Mexico City and Cartagena, a Colombian historical city with turquoise waters and white beaches of the Caribbean.

This is the fifth route Viva has launched between Colombia and Mexico in less than a year. Exactly a year ago, Viva operated its first commercial service between both countries, and now it serves the routes Bogota-Mexico City, Medellín-Mexico City, Cartagena-Mexico City, Medellín-Cancún, and Cali-Cancún.

Viva’s newest route will have two weekly frequencies, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The airline expects to carry up to 33,000 passengers within the first year of commercial service. This route was explicitly launched to appeal to the leisure traveler. Unlike the services to Bogotá and Medellín, where Viva operates flights to other destinations in Colombia and beyond, Cartagena is a destination in itself rather than a point of connection.

Uncontested route

Viva could hit the jackpot with this route. Not only Cartagena de Indias is among the favorite destinations for Mexican travelers in Colombia, but the route is also uncontested.

Besides Viva, five additional airlines operate flights between both countries, but none operate direct routes to Cartagena.

The airlines that serve the Mexico-Colombia market are Aeromexico (21 flights per week), Avianca (53 flights per week), Wingo (20 flights per week), Viva Aerobus (around 21 flights per week, although it recently scrapped two routes temporarily), and Volaris (14 flights per week).

Nonetheless, this is not the first time the Mexico City-Cartagena route has been served. This route was active until 2020. The Mexican carrier Interjet briefly operated this route between November 2019 and March 2020. It was one of the latest services launched by Interjet before the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the ill-fated airline, which ceased operations in December 2020.

Alexander Ciagauta, Viva’s Airport Director, said this about the launch of the airline’s newest route,

“Mexico is a key country in our international expansion plan. Today we are excited to begin operations on this new direct route, which will allow us to continue connecting Colombian and Mexican travelers with the rest of Latin America under our ‘Super Low Cost’ model. This is a great step for Viva and its purpose to continue promoting air inclusion with greater international options.”

Viva has flights to seven destinations across the Americas. Photo: Guillermo Quiroz Martínez via
@gquimar
.

Viva’s international expansion

The last two years have been marked by an aggressive expansion by Viva Colombia. The airline has launched 13 international routes across the region, serving eight destinations in the Americas.

These are Viva Colombia’s destinations in the Americas:

1. Buenos Aires (served from Bogotá and Medellín)
2. Lima (served from Bogotá and Medellín)
3. Mexico City (served from Bogotá, Cartagena and Medellín)
4. Cancún (served from Cali and Medellín)
5. São Paulo (served from Medellín, starting on June 22)
6. Orlando (served from Medellín)
7. Miami (served from Medellín)
8. Punta Cana (served from Medellín).

Overall, Viva Colombia operates 57 weekly international flights, all with its Airbus A320 fleet. Finally, Viva recently announced a merger with Avianca.

Would you be interested in flying this route? Let us know in the comments below.