Colombia surpassed goal of 30 million passengers mobilized in 2021.
In terms of reactivation and air connectivity, the year 2021 leaves a positive balance. The figures consolidate Colombia as a regional benchmark and strengthen the economic recovery not only of the air sector, but also of important sectors such as commerce and tourism.
Passenger figures continue to rise
The year 2021 closed with a total of 30,531,412 passengers mobilized in terms of air transportation. Of this total, 22,534,330 correspond to domestic passengers. In this sense, the recovery reaches 83% in relation to domestic passengers mobilized in 2019; while, in the mobilization of international passengers, a recovery of 56% was achieved, compared to 2019, with a total of 7,997,082 travelers.
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“This balance shows that air transportation has been gradually consolidating as a factor in the country’s economic reactivation. This demonstrates the coordinated work of the National Government, through the Ministry of Transportation and Civil Aeronautics. It is important to highlight that the month with the best performance was December, when 4,020,754 users were mobilized and the recovery achieved 106% in relation to the same month of 2019, when a total of 3,799,666 travelers were mobilized”, stated Angela María Orozco, Minister of Transportation.
The airports that set the tone during 2021 were Bogotá with 22,091,102 passengers, Rionegro with 7,916,646 and Cali with 5,211,765 passengers mobilized.
Figures showing that the tons of cargo transported in 2019 were exceeded.
In terms of cargo movement, 2021 was successful. A total of 835,564 tons were transported by air. Which represents a 105% recovery compared to 2019, when total tons reached 795,351.
“Undoubtedly, cargo transportation has been fundamental for the country’s economic recovery, favoring domestic trade and Colombia’s trade with the world. In this sense, we can say that the reactivation has exceeded expectations; of the total cargo, 159,652 tons were transported domestically and 675,912 internationally, which ratifies that we continue to be leaders in the matter at the regional level,” indicated Jair Orlando Fajardo Fajardo, general director of the Civil Aeronautics.
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Likewise, the general director added that “during this reactivation process, the month of best performance was December, which achieved a recovery of 123% with 79,046 tons transported, compared to the same month of 2019 in which 64,410 tons were recorded”.
2021 closes with a Colombia that is more connected by air
In terms of air connectivity, the reactivation also leaves satisfactory figures for the year 2021. The Civil Aeronautics approved 97 new routes to connect different points of the national territory, including San Andrés, Barranquilla, Armenia, Pasto, Apartadó, Arauca, Bucaramanga, Medellín, Puerto Inírida, Riohacha, San José del Guaviare, Tumaco, Santa Marta, Villavicencio, Yopal, Cartagena, Cúcuta, Guapi, Montería, Cartagena, Cali, Pereira, Leticia, Quibdó, Manizales, Neiva and Bogotá.
In international routes, the connection of our territory from different airports with 90 destinations in different parts of the United States, Curacao, Chile, Brazil, Aruba, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Panama, Ecuador, Puerto Rico and Santo Domingo was approved.
Similarly, Colombia, as host of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s International Conference for the Negotiation of Air Agreements, was able to sign three air service agreements with: Rwanda, Kuwait and Guyana, which strengthen the country’s connectivity with Africa, the Middle East and northern South America.
Agreements were also signed with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Benin, Bahrain, Belize and Oman. These signatures open the possibility of the arrival of more operators from Africa, Central America and the Middle East to the country and vice versa.
The work of the Colombian delegation headed by Jair Orlando Fajardo, director of Civil Aeronautics, enabled the modernization of bilateral instruments with the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Chile, Curaçao, Spain and Nigeria. This has made it possible to expand the offer to and from Europe, South America, the Caribbean and Africa.
One of the most important results for Colombia is the strengthening of air commercial activities with the United Arab Emirates, which opens the possibility of new passenger services, connecting the country via Miami (United States), with up to seven weekly frequencies, starting with a daily flight.
This opens the possibility for the entry of airlines such as Emirates and Etihad, which will energize the international market and will allow greater and better connectivity possibilities for the country.
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