Your options for traveling to Colombia, as well as within Colombia, became vastly more varied and economical recently. Colombia, and South America in general, is a very lucrative market for airlines, with passenger traffic growing dramatically even during the world economic crisis. Discount airlines have also entered this arena, filling a void and actually increasing demand further for a large segment of the population that couldn’t afford typically high fares. While Bogota used to be the air travel hub in Colombia, there’s more and more flights on offer that will take you to and from other Colombian cities without connecting at El Dorado, the capital’s international airport.

Speaking of airports, it seems most of the old passenger terminals in the country are undergoing a much needed face lift since they were collectively bought by a Chinese consortium. For a time, traveling through these airports can be rather chaotic. I was in Medellin’s Jose Maria Cordova airport in late February, where there was dust and construction throughout, and, horror of horrors, only chemical toilets in the boarding area!

Aires, the homegrown discount airline, has spearheaded the drive to offer affordable travel in this country. It’s now possible to travel between just about any major city in Colombia with Aires for 55 to  65 US dollars (at current exchange rates), taxes included, each way. Aires has also started offering flights to Fort Lauderdale, New York, Aruba and Curacao, but I should point-out that there’s almost always a connection within Colombia and often two or more. Another small local discount airline is Easyfly, which uses turboprops and has only a few national flights. Jet Blue, the American discount giant, serves Bogota exclusively, while Spirit Airways has entered the fray, proffering direct flights from Fort Lauderdale to Medellin, Barranquilla, Armenia, and Cartagena. Note that once you factor in all the extra fees Spirit charges, even for your carry-on bag, your fare probably won’t be such a deal.

The new competition forced the old airlines, such as Avianca and Aero Republica, to begin offering deep discounts on local and international routes. I remember wanting to go from Medellin to Santa Marta two years ago during the off season, only to discover that the return fare with Avianca, the only airline flying direct, came out to about 480 dollars for what amounts to a 40 minute hop. Aero Republica (Copa), the only alternative at the time, seemed to be colluding with Avianca, as their fare wasn’t much better and you had to change planes in Bogota. The same flight now with Avianca would cost me only about 180 USD, and 125 USD with Aero Republica. That’s quite a drop and these airlines must be feeling nostalgic about the good old days when they made air travel the exclusive domain of the Colombian upper class!

While national flights or from the USA are more affordable now, the same can’t be said if you’re coming from elsewhere. Air Canada, for example, has a direct service from Toronto to Bogota, but it’ll cost you around 900 Canadian dollars (about the same in US). In that case, you’re better off flying one of the US airlines, connecting in a major US hub, and save yourself up to 300 dollars.