COVID-19 Requirements for Colombian International Flights

In this Email Colombia Opens International Travel:

TODAY, the 19th of September NORMAL but limited International Flights to and from Colombia are Starting up! Initial cities confirmed for International flights are Baranquilla, Bogota, Cali, Cartegena, and Medellin. Normal meaning you do not need a residency visa or emergency reason to qualify to be on a flight to Colombia. Initially during the next month or two, the number of flights will only be at 30% of airport capacity prior to the COVID-19 health emergency.

The first international flight arrived in Medellin from Miami, this morning, the 19th of September at aprx 830AM on Viva Air. Medellin flights are going to be initially operated by Spirit and Viva Air.

The Initial flight into Cartegena was operated by Spirit as well. They managed to operate the majority of humanitarian flights so they were basically the first to get approved for normal flights. American Airlines will also start with its itinerary in September. American, Spirit, and Viva Air will initially be flying in and out of Cartegena.

Other airlines confirmed to startup in October are JetBlue, Wingo, KLM, Copa. More will be starting but we have not had confirmation from the government yet. New information is coming out almost daily as new flight schedules get approved by the Colombian government.

Humanitarian flights (click here for info), with strict requirements are still being operated by the Colombian consulates. They may start relaxing requirements a bit as more commercial flights become available. Although we expect humanitarian flights to stop operations soon.. Most people who want to fly now have a great chance to get to Colombia during September or October. It is just great news for so many expats and Colombian families who have been seperated from loved ones for so long! Of course Colombia has special requirements for persons entering and leaving Colombia.

For international flights the Colombian Ministry of Health has issued a resolution that dictates protocols that all airlines and passengers must follow for entering and leaving Colombia. The Colombian Health Ministry together with the Colombian Transport Ministry  have established special Bio-Security protocols for international flights to be reactivated. The most important requirement for international flights entering Colombia is of course the negative COVID-19 PCR test result with less than 96 hours before programmed flight departure time.

The official posting from the ministry of health can be found at this link (click here)

Mask Tip – Many people do not realize that an N-95 mask will protect you much more than a simple cloth mask. (click for Mayo clinic article) Look into it! If you happen to sit next to a person with COVID-19 on a plane and you dont have the right mask, or your mask is lose you may catch the virus.  Another advantage is that an N-95 mask will allow you to breath much easier if you purchase one with the exhale vents. Cloth masks protect other people from you. N-95 masks do a much better job at stopping you from breathing in the virus. The word for masks in Colombia is TAPA BOCA.