Proexport Colombia, the government agency for the promotion of tourism, trade and investment, is delighted to announce Avianca will be offering direct flights from London Heathrow to Colombia’s capital Bogota.

This service will commence from the June 27th and will operate four times a week on Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Avianca will be operating from Terminal 2 at London Heathrow and it will be the only airline flying direct between London and El Dorado International Airport.

The president of Avianca, Fabio Villegas, stated that they will run the route with the wide bodied Airbus A330 and expressed their plans to instate seven Boeing 787’s to further enhance their services into Europe by the end of October 2014.

Proexport Colombia has noted that the new route is part of the results achieved from the promotional efforts in the UK including a variety of events showcasing Colombia’s tourism products.

In the past eight years the country has gone from having zero UK tour operators offering Colombia over 60 and has sent more than 50 FAM trips to experience the destination offerings.

Juan Guillermo Perez, Proexport’s Director, commented: “We are overjoyed with Avianca’s announcement.

“It has be a triumphant journey for Colombia over the last decade with worldwide arrival figures doubling from 790,940 in 2004 to over 1.6 million in 2012.

“Specifically, for the UK we have seen a ten per cent increase of arrivals for Jan-Oct 2013 compared to the same period for the previous year and we look forward to a fruitful 2014 with the launch of this direct service.”