A Look At JetSMART Peru's 22 Newly Authorized International Routes

The Peruvian civil aviation authorities have given JetSMART Peru the green light to operate 22 new international routes to four countries in the region, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador, from three Peruvian airports, Lima International (LIM), Cuzco International (CUZ), and Arequipa International (AQP). Let’s take a look at the airline’s possible international route map.

New routes

JetSMART Peru, the latest branch launched by the Chilean ultra-low-cost company, is looking to address the international market and launch new routes. The Peruvian Civil Aviation General Directorate (DGAC) recently authorized JetSMART to operate five routes to Bolivia, two to Chile, 12 to Colombia, and three to Ecuador. JetSMART Peru would employ its Airbus A320 fleet to operate these new international services. The airline currently has three narrowbody jets operating commercial flights in Peru.

Understanding the new routes

Let’s take a moment to analyze the 21 new routes authorized to the ULCC JetSMART Peru and review which players it will encounter.

Bolivia

The DGAC authorized five routes between Peru and Bolivia. All of these routes can have up to seven weekly frequencies. These are:

1. Lima-La Paz
2. Lima-Santa Cruz
3. Lima-Cochabamba
4. Arequipa-Cochabamba
5. Arequipa-La Paz

Only two of these routes are currently operated, Lima-La Paz and Lima-Santa Cruz. LATAM flies both of these routes with five weekly flights, and Boliviana de Aviación flies daily between Lima and Santa Cruz.

Chile

The Peruvian authorities gave the green light to a couple of routes to Chile. These are:

1. Lima-Santiago. Up to 16 weekly flights.
2. Arequipa-Santiago. Up to seven weekly flights.

The Lima-Santiago route is one of the most operated in the region. There are 80 weekly flights between both capital cities, operated by three different airlines, Sky Airline (24 flights), LATAM Airlines (45), and JetSMART Chile (11). Meanwhile, the Arequipa-Santiago is only operated twice a week by JetSMART Chile.

Colombia

1. Colombia could receive the most significant number of flights from JetSMART Peru. The Peruvian authorities approved 12 routes between these two countries. The company is obviously very interested in improving its connectivity to Colombia, as it plans to launch a domestic branch there in the near future. The routes all have up to seven weekly flights and are:Lima-Bogota
2. Cuzco-Bogota
3. Arequipa-Bogota
4. Arequipa-Cartagena
5. Arequipa-Medellín
6. Arequipa-Cali
7. Lima-Medellín
8. Lima-Cartagena
9. Lima-Cali
10. Lima-Pereira
11. Lima-San Andrés
12. Lima-Cúcuta

The Lima-Bogota route is already operated by Avianca (21 weekly flights), LATAM (18), Wingo (three), Viva Colombia (six), and Viva Peru (one). Additionally, LATAM flies from Lima to Cali (three), Cartagena (four), and Medellín three), while Viva Peru also flies to Medellín (14 weekly services).

Ecuador

1. Finally, Peru authorized JetSMART to operate three routes with up to seven weekly flights to Ecuador. These are:Lima-Quito
2. Lima-Latacunga
3. Lima-Guayaquil.

LATAM is the only operator in the services to Guayaquil (seven) and Quito (14). The route to Latacunga is unserved.

JetSMART faced plenty of opposition

One particular airline didn’t want Peru to authorize the new routes to JetSMART. We are talking about its Chilean and ultra-low-cost competitor, Sky Airline, which also has a branch in Peru.

According to the report released by the Peruvian authorities, Sky Airline looked to block at least the Lima-Santiago de Chile route but also claimed that the Lima International Airport (LIM) is saturated. Giving access to a new airline would only harm the competition in the hub.

Nonetheless, the Peruvian authorities dismissed the claims by Sky Airline. “The saturation does not impact the operations at the airport permanently, but only in peak hours,” the Peruvian DGAC said.