Summary
- Colombia’s Civil Aviation authorities have approved GOL Linhas Aéreas’ fifth freedom flight request between São Paulo, Bogotá, and Buenos Aires.
- GOL’s latest flight to Colombia allows the airline to expand its international presence and improve connectivity between the three cities.
- This approval comes as one other fifth freedom route, operated by LATAM Airlines, can be approved to attach Santiago, Bogotá, and Madrid, entering a competitive market.
Colombia’s Civil Aviation authorities (Aerocivil) have authorized the requested fifth freedom flight of Brazil’s GOL Linhas Aéreas to operate between Sao Paulo Guarulhos (GRU), Bogota El Dorado International (BOG), and Buenos Aires Ezeiza International (EZE).
A fifth freedom flight approved
Earlier this yr, the Colombian office of GOL Linhas Aéreas presented a request to start serving Colombia directly from Brazil through a brand new route. The Brazilian airline also requested to operate a fifth freedom flight (when a foreign carrier can operate a service between two third-party countries, so long as the general flight starts or ends in its home country).
GOL’s fifth freedom request is to operate the São Paulo-Bogota-Buenos Aires-Bogota-São Paulo route, with every day flights on Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
The Brazilian carrier operates with a fleet of 141 aircraft, including 41 Boeing 737 MAX 8s. This next-gen fleet has two configurations, one for domestic and one for international services.
The international configuration can carry 176 passengers in a two-class layout, including 20 seats in premium economy and 156 seats in economy.
Photo: Matheus Obst | Shutterstock.
GOL’s newly approved flight to Colombia will allow the Brazilian carrier to enter its eighth country. It already flies to Argentina, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Suriname, the US, and Uruguay. As of this month, the airline operates 82 weekly international flights from ten Brazilian cities. Argentina is by far GOL’s leading international destination, with 44 weekly flights from seven Brazilian cities to 5 Argentinian destinations.
Improving the connectivity
Two airlines are currently operating in each of the 2 city pairs covered by this GOL route (GRU-BOG and BOG-EZE).
On the Sao Paulo-Bogota market, avianca operates three flights every day, while LATAM has one every day service.
On the Bogota-Buenos Aires market, two carriers are currently energetic. The Colombian avianca flies to Ezeiza International twice a day. Meanwhile, Aerolíneas Argentinas flies every day to Bogota from Buenos Aires’ second airport, Jorge Newbery Airfield.
Photo: Ariadne Barroso | Shutterstock.
GOL Linhas Aéreas and avianca are industrial partners. Last yr, they united to launch the Abra Group, a holding that goals to develop into one among the most important airline conglomerates in South America. Abra explains the target of the holding in an announcement,
One other fifth freedom route approved
Colombia’s Aerocivil approved one other fifth freedom route this month as well. This route will probably be operated by LATAM Airlines to attach Santiago de Chile (SCL), Bogota El Dorado, and Madrid Barajas (MAD).
LATAM Airlines requested authorization to operate this route with one every day flight onboard Boeing 787. By receiving the approval to operate this flight, LATAM will enter a contested market, competing against avianca, Iberia, Air Europa, and Plus Ultra Airlines, all of which operate the route Bogota-Madrid.
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