New Route of the Day – Americas (1 September 2023): Avianca between Guatemala City and Cancun
Avianca launched operations between Guatemala City and Cancun on Friday 1 September. The 815-kilometre service will be maintained 4-weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, with the 180-seat A320 aircraft. It will compete against two other carriers on the route. They include the local Transportes Aereos Guatemaltecos (TAG) with a 4-weekly service on the ATR72 turboprop, as well as Volaris with 8-weekly flights on the A320.
Flight AV650 departs Guatemala City at 10:35 local time, arriving in Cancun at 13:10 local time. The return service, operating as flight AV651, takes off from the Mexican coastal city at 14:10 local time., touching back down in Guatemala at 14:45 local time.
What they said
Irma Flores, Sales Manager for Central America at Avianca, said: “We are proud to be able to give Guatemalans the opportunity to fly to yet another destination. With the start of these operations, we are now offering flights to ten cities from Guatemala City in six countries. These include the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras, which undoubtedly positions us as the airline with the best offer of destinations in the country.”
Evelyn Villatoro, Director of Promotion and Advertising at the Guatemalan Institute of Tourism, added: “Air travel plays a fundamental role in promoting tourism and global connectivity. Avianca has demonstrated its ongoing commitment to expanding horizons and creating travel opportunities for people who want to travel between both destinations. We are sure that this route will expand our ability to promote Guatemala and the region.”
Avianca is Guatemala’s largest airline
The Colombian national carrier is the largest airline in Guatemala, offering double the capacity of its nearest competitor. This year, Avianca has a total of over 1.2 million seats on the Guatemalan market, ahead of Copa with just over 582,000 seats. In addition to the newly launched Cancun service, Avianca maintains operations from Guatemala City’s La Aurora Airport to Bogota, Comayagua, Flores, Los Angeles, New York JFK, San Salvador, San Pedro Sula, San Jose and Washington IAD.
Avianca has been the dominant carrier in Guatemala for years. Guatemala’s former national airline, Aviateca, was sold to TACA, which later merged with Avianca. Avianca established a subsidiary in Guatemala, however, in March 2021 it terminated all operations, with all flights transferred to Avianca mainline instead. The Colombian carrier has said it plans to reactivate the subsidiary.
