VivaColombia (Medellín José Maria Córdova) will begin international services on August 1 with its maiden regional destination set to be Balboa near Panama City. The Colombian LCC says flights to the Panamanian capital will operate on a daily basis from Bogotá while Medellín José Maria Córdova will be a 4x weekly basis using its fleet of A320-200s. VivaColombia will be the first scheduled carrier serving the former Howard air force base.
Launched in 2012, VivaColombia is a joint-venture between the Grupo Bolivar financial syndicate, Grupo Iamsa, a Mexican bus transport consortium, and Irelandia Aviation of Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) fame. It currently operates five A320s on flights throughout Colombia.
Air Panama (7P, Panamá City Paitilla) has meanwhile announced plans to enter the Colombian market as well launching a four times weekly B737-300 service linking Panamá City Paitilla and Medellín José Maria Córdova from July 4. Its only international route so far has been a three times weekly Fokker 50 service linking San José Juan Santamaría and David.
