More than 30.5 million passengers were transported by air in Colombia in 2021, a year in which 835,000 tons of cargo were also mobilized, of according to a balance released this Monday by the Civil Aeronautics (Aerocivil).
According to the agency, the reactivation of the air sector during 2021 exceeded the Government’s goals, which had planned to reach 30 million mobilized travelers, since 30,531,412 passengers passed through Colombian airports the previous year.
Of this total, 22,534,330 correspond to national passengers and the other 7,997,082 travelers are international. This movement represents an average recovery of 74 percent compared to 2019, before the pandemic, in which 41,289,656 travelers were mobilized, the information added.
“This balance shows that air transport has been consolidating, gradually, as a factor in the economic reactivation of the country”, affirmed the Minister of Transport, Angela María Orozco.
The airports that mobilized the most passengers were those of Bogotá, with 22,091,102 travelers; Rionegro (Medellín), with 7,916,646, and Cali, with 5,211,765.
(Also read: Owners of property in Huila are being investigated for illegal tolls)
Aerocivil also pointed out that in cargo transport the recovery was even better as the figures from before the pandemic were exceeded. In 2019, 795,351 tons of cargo were transported in the country by air, and in 2021 that volume reached 835,564 tons, which represents an increase of 105 percent.
“Without a doubt, cargo transportation has been essential for the economic recovery of the country, favoring domestic trade and trade between Colombia and the world”, said the general director of Civil Aeronautics, Jair Orlando Fajardo.
The number of international routes grew
Aerocivil also highlighted that “2021 closed with 90 new approved international routes and 97 national ones, which provides users with more connectivity options with different destinations inside and outside the country.”
Similarly, he pointed out that last year the country signed 21 agreements on air matters, bringing the number of such instruments to 74 with different countries in the world. One of them is for the strengthening of commercial air activities with the United Arab Emirates, which can facilitate passenger service between the two countries via Miami (USA).
“This opens the possibility for the entry of airlines such as Emirates and Etihad, which will boost the international market and allow greater and better connectivity possibilities for our country,” added Aerocivil.