CHICAGO –The Chicago Department of Aviation and Avianca Airlines today announced two new nonstop routes between Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) and key destinations in South and Central America. New services to Bogota, Colombia (BOG) and Guatemala City, Guatemala (GUA) set to begin this fall mark the 14^th and 15^th new international routes that will be added at O’Hare in 2018.

The new service to Bogota will be the first time Chicago will be linked to Colombia by nonstop, scheduled passenger service. Combined, the new Bogota and Guatemala City services are expected to bring $65 million in annual economic impact to the Chicago region.

 “O'Hare continues to expand our connectivity to the world, and these important new flights to Bogota and Guatemala City will increase passengers’ access to all parts of the world through Chicago," said Ginger S. Evans, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Aviation. "We want to thank Avianca for choosing to grow with us in Chicago, and we look forward to partnering with them on new service that will drive not only new travel opportunity for our passengers, but jobs and economic opportunity for the city.”

New daily service to Guatemala City will launch October 29^th from Chicago, on a 150-seat A320 aircraft (October 28^th from GUA).  Then, starting November 17^th, service to Bogota will begin operating four-times weekly on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday using a 120-seat A319.

"With this new addition to our route network, Avianca Airlines becomes the first and only airline to directly join O’Hare with Bogota and vice versa, connecting travelers coming from Chicago and the region more efficiently to the main capitals in Latin America," said Rolando Damas, General Director for Avianca Airlines in North and Asia.  "We are confident that business travelers, as well as the Central and South American communities in Chicago, who visit friends and relatives in Latin America, will greatly benefit with this flight.”

The launch of new service to these cities supports Chicago’s growing South and Central American populations and global business and cultural partnerships with both regions. Bogota is a Sister City to Chicago, and Colombians are the second-largest South American-origin population in Chicago. Guatemalans, in turn, are the largest Central American-origin population in Chicago. The new flights will also serve the approximately 120 Chicago companies with significant operations in South and Central and America.

New and expanded service has been strong at both O'Hare and Midway International Airports in 2018, with 40 new routes already announced or launched in 2018. Less than halfway into the year, O’Hare has seen 15 newly announced or launched international flights, including nonstop services to Budapest and Venice, and expanded service to London via the A380—all launched last week.  By this year’s end, Chicago will become one of only five cities globally—and the only one in the U.S.—to offer nonstop passenger air service to all six major inhabited regions of the world (Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America).

O'Hare is ranked number one for connectivity among U.S. mega hub airports, for the highest ratio of possible scheduled connections to number of destinations served. To maintain its status as an easily accessible and attractive destination for international travelers, the City continues to grow international capacity at O'Hare. These investments are a part of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's O'Hare 21 vision, designed to modernize facilities, expand capacity and passenger amenities, and enable O’Hare’s future growth to better connect travelers and Chicago to other parts of the world.

Tickets are now on sale for both flights. For more information about Avianca Airlines and to purchase tickets, please visit www.avianca.com.