August 7, 2014 
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In This Week's Issue:

VivaColombia Brings Low-Cost Airfares to Colombia 

Routes the airline flies have seen domestic passengers increase by more than 17%

 

By Mark Chesnut

 

Colombia's fast-growing commercial airline scene has witnessed the introduction of several new brands in recent years. One of them, VivaColombia, is attracting attention with its low-cost business model and ambitious growth plan, which this year will take the carrier beyond Colombia's borders.

 

VivaColombia's first-ever international routes include Medellin-Panama City and Bogota-Panama City, both of which launched in July, and Bogota-Lima, which will begin during the fourth of the year. To accommodate the expansion, the company later this year will add two 180-passenger A320-200 planes to its existing fleet of five. VivaColombia is also setting up a new base in Bogota, which it will use to offer easier connections for nonstop flights it has scheduled from Bogota to six new destinations this year: Montería, Santa Marta, Bucaramanga, San Andrés, Pereira and Cúcuta.

 

Domestically, the airline is already known as a low-cost carrier. How will that approach translate on the international front? "We intend to enter other countries, as we did when we started operations two years ago," says William Shaw, the airline's commercial vice president. "We will position ourselves as the low-cost airline, and we are sure that in those routes where we begin service there will be the 'Efecto Viva' within just a few months. The Efecto Viva is the decrease in prices by other airlines when VivaColombia enters the competition in that market."

 

Indeed, VivaColombia says it has helped lower domestic airfares in Colombia and contributed to a 17.5% increase in the number of domestic passenger passengers flying within the nation between January and September 2013. The growth rate on routes where VivaColombia doesn't fly, according to the airline, was only 6.9%. "VivaColombia has a product that, while it may not be new, has permitted that all Colombians have access to an airline ticket," Shaw says. "A few years ago, a domestic flight ticket cost the same as an international ticket. With the arrival of VivaColombia, it's possible to find airline tickets [as economical] as a bus ticket or a car trip. On some routes where VivaColombia doesn't operate, the tickets are very expensive, but the growth of the routes where VivaColombia has significant operation ... is triple the growth of the routes where we don't operate or where the operation isn't significant."

 

According to Proexport Colombia, the nation's tourism promotion and investment organization, VivaColombia controlled 9.14% of the domestic airline market in the first 10 months of 2013, and ranked within the top three airlines in Colombia, with a total of more than 1.4 million passengers. 

 

VivaColombia by Daneste via Wikimedia Commons

                                                                                                       
News from our Partners
(Click the headlines to read full stories)

 

DeltaDelta customers can now use portable electronic devices throughout international flights; Delta among first U.S. airlines to allow gate-to-gate use of devices outside U.S. airspace.

 

New SkyTeamGo Round Asia and Southwest Pacific Pass: Travel Delta and its SkyTeam partners through 26 countries with a "mini-Round the World" ticket that offers cost savings on flights, available for purchase as little as three days before your trip. More on SkyTeam's Travel Passes. 


Make memories with your children this summer at Holiday Inn: Children under 18 years sharing a room with you stay free, and children under 13 eat free on the children's menu - take the opportunity this summer to dive at sea, discover unknown corners of the city, taste the local cuisine and more. 

 

Start your day full of energy with free breakfast at Holiday Inn Express:

Complimentary breakfast buffet at all Holiday Inn Express hotels includes fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, ham, chilaquiles, cereals, regional dishes and more.

 
 

Dr. Jonathan L. Glashow, MD, named Best Shoulder Surgeon on New York City's Upper East Side, talks about new options for shoulder surgery (video). 

 

Patient testimonial for Dr. Jonathan Glashow, Board Certified orthopedic surgeon and co-chief of sports medicine orthopedics at New York's Mount Sinai Medical Center.


 

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Travel News

US Visa Issues

The US Department of State is currently experiencing technical difficulties with its visa issuing system, leading to significant delays in issuing new visas, even to those whose applications have already been approved. Those needing a US visa should allow extra time for processing. The government expects that it will take weeks to catch up with a backlog caused by several computer system crashes and delays, and it is prioritizing the processing of adoption and immigrant visas.

Madrid, Spain

 

New Airline Routes and Route Changes

South America

Iberia Airlines will add four weekly direct flights between Madrid and Montevideo, Uruguay's Carrasco International Airport, beginning September 1.

 

Mexico

United Airlines will end service from San Francisco, California (US) to Guadalajara, Mexico as of September 21.

 

Central America

Air France will add a fourth weekly flight between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Panama City as of September 4. A fifth weekly flight on the route will be added on October 26.

 

Caribbean

Delta Air Lines will expand its seasonal service between Aruba, Grand Cayman, St. Maarten, Turks and Caicos and Bermuda to three U.S. airports: its U.S. hub in Atlanta (Georgia), New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Boston.

 

International Connections

As part of the American Airlines-US Airways merger, US Airways will add round-trip flights from American's Latin American hub at Miami International Airport to the U.S. cities of Boston (Massachusetts), Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (Texas), Newark (New Jersey - New York metropolitan area) and Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport. The flights begin September 3.

 

Other Airline News

Delta Air Lines now allows gate-to-gate use of personal electronic devices on international flights; it is one of the first U.S. airlines to receive permission for passengers to use such devices below 10,000 feet.

Delta Airlines

 

Delta and its SkyTeam partners launched a Go Round Asia and Southwest Pacific pass, which allows travelers to choose from a minimum of three and maximum of 11 flights in economy or business class on any of the SkyTeam partners, at prices that are significantly less than purchasing several flights individually.

 

Australia-based airline QANTAS has rerouted flights between Dubai and London to avoid Iraqi airspace as a result of restrictions imposed by various governments. The new route is not expected to significantly increase flight times.

 

Lufthansa Group has decided to cease all flights over Iraq, including twice-weekly flights to Erbil in the nation's Kurdistan region, until August 10.

 

Airport News

Passengers departing from Venezuela's largest airport must now pay a new tax of 127 bolivars (about US$20) to leave Caracas's Maiquetía Simón Bolívar International Airport. The airport says the tax is to pay for a new air conditioning and purifying system.

 

Loyalty Program News

IHG Rewards Club (formerly Priority Club Rewards) is offering a new set of PointBreaks hotel reward bookings at 5,000 points per night at a new group of 173 hotels, through September 30.

 

Hilton Worldwide's HHonors "Triple Your Trip" promotion gives members double points for weeknight stays and triple points for Friday, Saturday and Sunday night stays at participating properties through October 31.

 

Online airline ticket seller Cheap Tickets launched a loyalty program, CheapCash, which lets travelers earn US$50 towards future flights when booking through the website and $75 and/or $25 toward flights and hotel, respectively, when booking through its mobile app. Rewards must be redeemed within 30 days, but travel can take place within one year.

 

Hotel News

By the end of the summer, HHonors loyalty program members will be able to choose hotel rooms from a list of floor plans at Hilton Worldwide's flagship brand properties, as well as at Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites. The company will also soon begin allowing guests to skip front desk check-in and use smartphones as room keys. The feature will first launch in US hotels, and should be in all Hilton properties by the end of 2016.

Hyatt Place La Paz

 

The Bahamas' $3.5 million Baha Mar resort, which includes the Baha Mar Casino & hotel, the Grand Hyatt, the Rosewood and the SLS hotels, has pushed its opening back as much as six months, likely to late spring of 2015.

 

The 151-room Hyatt Place La Paz opened in Baja California Sur, Mexico. All rooms include a sofa-sleeper, and the hotel offers free Wi-Fi and hot buffet breakfast as well as 2,691 square feet of flexible meeting and function space and 24-hour fitness and business centers.

 

Sofitel plans to open a 290-room Sofitel Mexico Reforma in Mexico City's financial district in 2017.

 

Madrid by Moyan_Brenn; Delta Air Lines by Allen Watkin; Room in Hyatt Place La Paz, courtesy of Hyatt Place La Paz
 
Holiday Inn - Now from 10 to 30% - Enjoy the benefits of reserving in advance
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Latin Trade Aviation Special Supplement

Delta Builds Solid Regional Footprint Through Long-Term Alliances

Through organic growth and alliances with key regional partners GOL Linhas Aéraes Inteligentes
and Aeroméxico, Delta continues to grow in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its codeshare, joint maintenance and other partnerships with Aeroméxico are among the fruits of that long-term alliance. Delta's enhanced exclusive alliance with GOL, announced 20 months ago, today offers flights to around 380 destinations in more than 62 countries. 

  

Copa Airlines and Copa Airlines Colombia: A Six-Decade Success Story

The evolution of Copa has take the airline from a domestic carrier using small aircraft to an international carrier that is the pride of Panamanians. The carrier's Hub of the Americas in Panama City generated close to 38,000 direct and indirect jobs in 2013, accounting for approximately 4.1% of Panama's GDP. More than 11 million passengers flew on Copa during 2013, during which the airline increased seat availability by 14%. This year, Copa is adding flights to destinations including Montreal, Québec, Canada; Fort Lauderdale, Florida (U.S.); and Georgetown, Guyana. 

 

 

Read more in the digital edition of Latin Trade magazine. 
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