Brazilian airline Gol requests route to Havana.

The Brazilian airline Gol could soon start flying to Havana. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Colombia, Gol has requested a new international route to connect Brasília with the Cuban capital, which would make a stop at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá.

Gol would operate seven weekly flights to Havana from Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport in Brasilia.

The airline plans to use Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft with a capacity of 186 seats, distributed into 30 business class seats and 156 economy class seats.

Gol's request for a route to Havana "is based on the principle of the fifth freedom of the air, which allows airlines to disembark passengers, cargo, and mail at any point of the route, benefiting both the company and travelers by facilitating connections," according to Prensa Latina.

The South American airline is already exercising that right on its route between Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina.

The information released did not indicate when Gol is expected to start flying to Havana, nor an estimated price for the tickets.

Gol began operating in 2001 and captures more than one-third of the domestic market in Brazil, in addition to flying to other countries in Latin America.

Connectivity crisis between Cuba and South America

The request comes in a delicate context for the island, after several airlines have stopped flying to Havana in recent months, justifying that the route is not profitable.

It is also noteworthy that Brazil is not initially listed among the main sources of travelers to the island, which raises doubts about the high number of weekly flights proposed.

In mid-June, the Colombian airline Avianca announced that it was suspending the resumption of flights between Bogotá and Havana, which were scheduled to start on July 2.

Regarding the reasons for the cancellation, Avianca limited itself to commenting that it was "due to operational issues." The company did not specify a new date for the return of the flight route.

Also in June, Boliviana de Aviación (BoA) announced the suspension of its route between Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Havana starting on July 25, 2024. A route that operated for only nine months.

The main airline of the South American nation did not specify the reason for the cancellation, although industry analysts anticipated that such actions usually occur when the business is unsustainable and incurs losses.

In addition, at the beginning of this year, Aerolíneas Argentinas announced the cessation of its operations to the capital of the island.

The tourist recovery in Cuba after the pandemic is much slower than in other Caribbean countries.

The Cuban government has spent nearly five years failing to meet its tourist arrival plans to Cuba, yet it continues to build new luxury hotels that remain empty for most of the year.

In 2023, the planned target was to reach 3.5 million tourists, but they only managed to receive 70 percent of that goal.