Been a while since we’ve heard anything meaningful from US Airways about adding destinations from CLT. Most strikingly, no new international flying from CLT has been added in some time — indeed, Carib/Latin American flying from CLT is actually down compared to two or three years ago. And international routes are where the money is for airlines these days.
Well, that changed — sort of — today, with US Airways applying for rights for a daily flight to Bogota.
Bogota? Yes, that Bogota. As in Bogota, Colombia.
So why Bogota, of all places? Simple, the air service treaty between the U.S. and Colombia limits the number of daily flights between the two countries. That more-or-less guarantees that all who fly the between Colombia and the U.S. will do fine. And the U.S. DOT currently has three more daily route authorities to hand out. Of course, the flip side is its far from a given that US Airways will get the route. Delta, jetBlue, and Spirit have all applied for route authority(s) as well.
If US Airways gets the route, it would be their first flight to South America. And even if they don’t, it may be a sign that they will grow their Carib/Latin America flying again.
