LOGAN LANDS AVIANCA AIR
South American flights begin in June
Boston’s Logan International Airport has landed its first nonstop flights to South America with Avianca S.A.’s direct service to Bogota, Colombia, set to start June 2.
A new airline for Logan, Avianca, or Aerovias del Continente Americano, will fly from Boston to Colombia’s capital four times a week — Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays — on Airbus A319 aircraft that seat 120 passengers, including 12 in business class. The flights will leave Boston at 12:27 a.m. and arrive at Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport at 5:57 a.m.
“South America is a big market for a lot of Massachusetts companies, and it’s a fast-growing region of the world economy,” said Massport CEO Thomas Glynn. “There’s a lot of transactions back and forth, so we think this will be pretty popular.”
Those companies include Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin-Robbins, Raytheon and Liberty Mutual.
Massachusetts also has a Colombian population of about 20,000, and Colombians comprise the eighth largest foreign-born population in Boston, according to Massport.
“A lot of people kind of have a ninthgrade geography class view of many of the countries in South America — that they have more of a rural economy, more of an agricultural economy,” Glynn said. “Bogota has 8 million people — almost the same size as New York City. These are very prosperous and growing parts of the world economy that we need to be in touch with.”
Forbes Travel Guide named Bogota as one of its top 12 destinations to visit in 2017, and Vogue magazine cited Colombia as one of its top 10 destinations for this year.
“So I think there will be a good number of non-Colombian leisure travelers and a number of business travelers,” Glynn said.
Bogota also is a key educational and research hub in Latin America, and the Boston and Bogota academic communities likely will welcome the nonstop flights, according to travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt of Atmosphere Research Group.
“Avianca’s new nonstop is another important win for Logan,” Harteveldt said, noting the airline is a member of the Star Alliance and a partner with United Airlines.
“Avianca and its Star Alliance partners will have the ‘first mover’ competitive advantage against JetBlue, Logan’s largest airline, which at present offers only connecting flights between Boston and Bogota,” Harteveldt said. “If United codeshares with Avianca on this route, (it) will have an advantage over both American and Delta as well.