Qatar Airways has announced in January it will expand its operations in South America from mid-2025, with the launch of a new triangular route from/to Hamad International Airport in Doha. The airline will operate the Doha – Bogotá – Caracas – Doha route with Boeing 777-200(LR) aircraft configured for 276 passengers in two classes (42 Business Class and 234 Economy Class).

The capitals of Colombia and Venezuela will join Sao Paulo, its only destination in the region. Considering the rest of the Americas, Qatar will reach 16 scheduled routes, with the United States as its main market.

At the time of publication, flights to Bogotá and Caracas are not on sale, and neither start dates and schedules have been confirmed, but it is expected to operate every Wednesday and Sunday effective early summer 2025.

Routes to the Americas

• Atlanta (ATL): 7 weekly · Airbus A350-1000
• Boston (BOS): 7 weekly · Airbus A350-900
• Chicago (ORD): 7 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
• Dallas (DFW): 14 weekly · A35K/772
• Houston (IAH): 7 weekly · Airbus A350-1000
• Los Angeles (LAX): 7 weekly · Airbus A350-1000
• Miami (MIA): 12 weekly · Airbus A350-1000
• Montreal (YUL): 7 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
• New York (JFK): 17 weekly · A359/A35K/77W
• San Francisco (SFO): 7 weekly · Airbus A350-1000
• Sao Paulo (GRU): 14 weekly · A35K/772
• Seattle (SEA): 7 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
• Toronto (YYZ): 3 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
• Washington DC (IAD): 10 weekly · A359/77W

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Badr Mohammed Al-Meer, said: “The launch of flights to Bogotá and Caracas marks a transformative moment for Qatar Airways and for travellers to South America. As the first airline to offer nonstop service from the Middle East to Colombia and the only Middle Eastern carrier flying to Venezuela, we are creating new opportunities to connect people, cultures, and commerce.”

“Passengers can look forward to experiencing Qatar Airways’ world-class in-flight hospitality as we continue to reach new heights in long-haul travel with our second longest flight into the Americas. These routes embody our commitment to pioneering travel experiences and redefining global connectivity with our award-winning service”, concluded.

As announced in their press release, the flights will be on sale shortly.

Bariloche (Argentina) will have new international routes

The city of Bariloche, located in Argentina’s Patagonia, will have many new international routes during the 2025 South American winter season, which will run from mid-June to the end of August.

After a winter 2024 with international flights to Sao Paulo and Santiago de Chile, the Argentine city will be served from Belo Horizonte, Campinas and Porto Alegre in Brazil, as well as from Puerto Montt in Chile. These four cities will join Sao Paulo and Santiago de Chile, planned to return to the schedule.

Aerolíneas Argentinas, Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras, GOL Linhas Aéreas, LATAM Brasil and SKY Airline will have international flights to/from Bariloche. In addition, Andes Líneas Aéreas, an Argentine charter airline, will operate flights to Brazil and Uruguay from Bariloche during the winter.

• Puerto Montt (PMC): 2 weekly · April 4th · SKY (it will continue during winter 2025)
• Santiago (SCL): 4 weekly · June 18th · SKY
• Porto Alegre (POA): 1 weekly · June 19th · Azul
• Campinas (VCP): 5 weekly · June 23rd · Azul
• Sao Paulo (GRU): 6 weekly · June 23rd · LATAM
• Belo Horizonte (CNF): 2 weekly · June 25th · Azul
• Sao Paulo (GRU): 7 weekly · July 1st · Aerolíneas Argentinas
• Sao Paulo (GRU): 3 weekly · July 2nd · GOL

SUA, a new airline in Uruguay

Sociedad Uruguaya de Aviación, also known as SUA Líneas Aéreas, was officially presented at Carrasco International Airport in Montevideo on January 28th. The event was attended by SUA’s CEO, Antonio Rama, along with businessmen, press and guests.

The new Uruguayan airline plans to start flying in Q4 2025 by airBaltic’s Airbus A220-300 aircraft. During the event, SUA confirmed its strategic agreement with airBaltic, which will allow it to develop its commercial operations in Uruguay and the region, with crew from the Baltic airline. At least five Airbus A220s will be transferred to SUA Líneas Aéreas during summer 2025/26.

Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Paraguay will be part of the schedule, being Asunción, Buenos Aires, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago de Chile and Sao Paulo possible destinations. Montevideo will be the hub of the new company, although they also plan to operate from Punta del Este.

Airlines in Uruguay

If SUA is finally launched, Uruguay will have once again a commercial passenger airline after nearly five years. Amaszonas Uruguay, the last one at the moment, ceased operations in December 2020 as a consequence of a restructuring of the Amaszonas Group due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Following Pluna’s cease in 2012, the main airline in Uruguay that had begun its flights on November 20th, 1936, the country was never able to maintain a commercial airline over the years, with BQB Líneas Aéreas, Alas Uruguay and Amaszonas Uruguay being those which operated, and also ceased to fly, after Pluna.

Regarding Antonio Rama, between 2003 and 2005 he owned a commercial airline in Uruguay, named Uair. It operated from Montevideo and Punta del Este to Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Paraguay with two Fokker 100 aircraft, which were registered as CX-UAA and CX-UAB. In addition, he was an Air Europa pilot from 1998 to 2012 and has been a Qatar Airways pilot since 2012.

Frontier enters the South American market?

The airline requested authorization from the Colombian aviation authority (Aerocivil Colombia) to operate the San Juan (Puerto Rico) – Bogotá route on Airbus A320neo and Airbus A321neo aircraft, with up to two weekly frequencies.

If initiated, the Colombian capital will be Frontier Airlines’ first destination in Colombia, as well as in South America. The company has an important presence in the Caribbean and Central America, with services to Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago and the US Virgin Islands.

JetSMART Argentina incorporates its first Airbus A320neo

The low cost continues to grow in Argentina, with the addition of new aircraft, restarts of suspended routes and new destinations.

Since October 2024, JetSMART Argentina has been incorporating one new aircraft per month, and in January it added its first Airbus A320neo, which has the Chilean registration CC-AWN, 186 seats in single class and is five years old.

JetSMART Argentina owns all the group’s Airbus A320-200s (11). Eight of them are registered in Argentina (LV) and the other three in Chile (CC), as foreign-registered aircraft can operate in Argentina following a change in the country’s Aeronautical Code in 2024.

With the arrival of the first A320neo, JetSMART Argentina reaches 12 aircraft in its fleet. In addition, during February it plans to incorporate its first Airbus A321neo, which will also arrive from JetSMART Chile. As per its website, the A321neo will begin operations in domestic flights in Argentina by mid-March.

Fleet

Airbus A320-200: 11

• LV-HEK · 6 years
• LV-HVT · 6 years
• LV-IVN · 6 years
• LV-IVO · 6 years
• LV-JQE · 6 years
• LV-KDP · 6 years
• LV-KFX · 7 years
• LV-KJA · 8 years
• CC-AWA · 8 years
• CC-AWC · 7.5 years
• CC-AWE · 7 years

Airbus A320neo: 1

At least three Airbus A321neo will be incorporated by JetSMART Argentina between February and March.

We review other highlights of the Latin American market

The Mexican airline will expand its international schedule in Latin America with the launch of three new routes from Mexico City’s Benito Juárez International Airport.

Cali, Panama City and Punta Cana will join its network, which it will offer on Boeing 737 MAX aircraft seating 166 passengers.

• Cali (CLO): at present, flights are not for sale
• Panama City (PTY): 7 weekly · June 12th
• Punta Cana (PUJ): 7 weekly · June 26th

Aeromexico already operates in Colombia and Dominican Republic, with services to Bogotá and Medellín and Santo Domingo, respectively, while Panama will be added to the regular schedule. Flights to Cartagena will commence on February 20th.

By European summer 2025 (and South American winter 2025), Air Europa will boost frequencies on two of its routes between Spain and South America, currently operated three times a week with Boeing 787-8 and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jets.

• Córdoba (COR): from 3 to 4 weekly · June 24th
• Salvador (SSA): from 3 to 4 weekly · June 25th

As announced in our United States and Canada report, Arajet will start flights between the Dominican Republic and the US on April 11th, with the Santo Domingo – Miami route.

In addition, the airline recently began sales of its second route to the United States, which will operate from Punta Cana effective June 13th.

PUJ – MIA

MIA – PUJ

Arajet will have, from June 13th, eight weekly flights in the Dominican Republic – U.S. market.

On March 31st, avianca’s Costa Rican subsidiary will commence service to San Juan (Puerto Rico) from San José, Costa Rica’s capital city. Operations will be conducted three times per week by 180-seat, single-class Airbus A320neo aircraft.

Monday, Thursday and Friday

Avianca will be the only operator on this route.

The Honduran airline reincorporates a “new” Boeing 737-200 to its fleet.

After several months parked in Bolivia due to maintenance, the Boeing 737-232(Adv), registration HR-AVR, joins again Aviatsa, a company based in Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras.

Aviatsa reaches two Boeing 737-200s, which average 41.5 years old. The carrier usually operates charter flights within Honduras as well as to other countries in the region.

Fleet

• Boeing 737-2Y5(Adv) HR-MRZ · 42 years
• Boeing 737-232(Adv) HR-AVR · 41 years

Aviatsa is one of the few Latin American airlines that still flies Boeing 737-200. Avior, Estelar and Venezolana are other cases, all of them being from Venezuela.

In addition to Bariloche, Azul Linhas Aéreas will add another seasonal destination in Argentina starting in June.

For the first time, the Brazilian airline will offer regular flights to El Plumerillo airport in Mendoza, as of June 17th. At publication time, these services will run until the end of August, as they will be seasonal.

VCP – MDZ

MDZ – VCP

Azul had operated some charters between Campinas and Mendoza in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

The German airline will launch its seasonal operations between Munich and Punta Cana beginning October 26th, to be performed with 283/302-seat Airbus A330-300 planes.

Wednesday and Sunday

At present, Discover has five weekly flights to Punta Cana from Frankfurt by the same aircraft.

Due to a significant drop in demand and operational issues at Havana’s José Martí airport, Edelweiss Air announced it will cease flights to Cuba from February 27th. The Swiss airline has one service a week between Zurich and the Cuban capital on Airbus A340-300s with capacity for 314 passengers.

Edelweiss joins Condor, the other European airline that will suspend its operations to the Caribbean country. As for Condor, this cessation is a consequence of the economic and social situation in Cuba, which is clearly reflected in the low demand.

Following the last flight of Edelweiss, Switzerland and Cuba will no longer have non-stop services, leaving Cuba connected to France, Germany, Italy and Spain, regarding European countries.

On February 3rd at 17:58 local time, Flybondi’s inaugural flight from Buenos Aires arrived at Río Gallegos airport, in the Argentine Patagonia. The low cost carrier will operate this route six times weekly by Boeing 737-800 airplanes configured for 189 passengers in single class.

Flybondi will also fly this route with its wet-lease aircraft, belonging to Avion Express and AlbaStar (Lithuanian Airbus A320-200 and Spanish Boeing 737-800, respectively), as was the case for some of the following flights.

Daily except Wednesday

On the other hand, Flybondi incorporated a fourth Airbus A320 from Avion Express on February 3rd, which will operate for the Argentine airline until late March, when all foreign aircraft will return to Europe.

At 12:11 local time on February 4th, GOL Linhas Aéreas’ inaugural service from Brasilia landed in Bogotá. The two capitals will be connected three times per week with Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes.

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

On Thursdays, flight G3 8243 takes off from Bogotá at 23:33 local time, arriving at BSB on Fridays at 07:05 local time.

The low cost carrier will expand its operations in Colombia and Argentina, with new domestic routes from Bogotá and Buenos Aires (Aeroparque).

Starting April 7th, LATAM Brasil will begin flights between Fortaleza and Lisbon, which it will provide with 300-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner airplanes. 

The airline will operate one weekly frequency until at least October 20th, according to the press release.

Monday

LATAM will resume services between the Brazilian Northeast and Europe after 16 years. At that time, it was TAM Linhas Aéreas.

The IAG Group’s low cost carrier will increase frequencies between Spain and South America as of June for the European summer season. Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile, capitals of Argentina and Chile respectively, are part of its network in the region.

• Buenos Aires (EZE): 7 weekly flights during European summer (first time with this schedule during summer)
• Santiago (SCL): 4 weekly flights during European summer (first time with this schedule during summer)

Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco are its other regular destinations, also to/from Barcelona.

On February 12th at 15:15 local time, Paranair’s inaugural flight from Asunción will arrive at Salta International Airport. The Paraguayan company will serve the Argentine city by CRJ-200 aircraft with capacity for 50 passengers.

ASU – SLA

SLA – ASU

Paranair returns to Salta following a six-year absence.

For the first time, SKY Airline will operate regular flights between Argentina and Brazil.

Services on the Buenos Aires – Salvador de Bahia route will commence on April 2nd, and will be carried out twice a week on Airbus A320neo aircraft with a capacity of 186 passengers in single class.

Wednesday and Sunday

Buenos Aires will become SKY’s third destination in Salvador after Montevideo and Santiago de Chile.

The airline is expanding its Caribbean operations from Saint John (Antigua and Barbuda) and Sint Maarten, by launching new routes to Montserrat.

In accordance with our database, the flights will be conducted on Twin Otter aircraft.

Effective March 30th, Wingo will start services between Bucaramanga and Santa Marta with Boeing 737-800 aircraft. These flights will be performed two times weekly as follows:

BGA – SMR

SMR – BGA

Wingo is owned by Copa Airlines and has been operating in Colombia since December 2016. The airline currently has nine Boeing 737-800s.

Aircraft incorporated by Latin American airlines

On January 17th, GOL Linhas Aéreas added the Boeing 737 MAX 8 with registration PS-GPQ. The aircraft, at the time of incorporation, had the livery of Southwest Airlines, as it was scheduled to join the U.S. airline under the registry N8703J, but was not taken up (NTU).

Other reports we have published

Cover photo: Abdurahman N. – JetPhotos (Hamad International Airport – OTHH)