As of November 26, flights between Colombia and the U.S. are no longer to be limited in terms of routes and frequency of flights, local media reported Tuesday.
The proposal gained the approval from Congress on Monday night meaning American commercial airlines can fly to and from the U.S. from any city in Colombia, a practice previously prohibited by an agreement signed in 1956. U.S. airlines will now be able to fly to any airport in the country instead of just the principle cities of Cartagena, Medellin, Bogota, Cali and Barranquilla.
“There is no limit on the number of frequencies and the route schedule, airlines can choose any city. It is an agreement that allows freedom to go from Bogota to New York then Europe,’ said the director of Aerocivil, the state regulator of civil aviation in Colombia.
The new agreement also means that the frequency of flights and cargo between the two nations is also no longer limited and will gradually increase in 2013 with the hopes of increasing Colombian exports and tourism.
The problem of immigration was raised as some Colombian airports do not have suitable infrastructure to deal with U.S. citizens coming in to the country so, to combat this issue, airports with immigration systems will be automatically intergrated into flight plans U.S. flight plans, daily business newspaper Portafolio reported.