MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Boliviana de Aviación launches Washington route

BoA's ambitious expansion has included unprofitable routes such as Cuba and Venezuela

Boliviana de Aviación (BoA) launched this week a new international route from Santa Cruz to Washington DC with round-trip tickets priced at US$880. The new service will operate twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The State-run carrier's General Manager Mario Borda explained that the route will benefit the over 400,000 Bolivians living in the United States. This new flight is part of BoA's recent expansion, which has seen the addition of multiple new international routes since 2023.

“It is also a way to celebrate our Bicentennial. In parallel with our domestic services, we are launching these operations, which are of great significance to Bolivians living abroad,” he said.

The ceremony was attended by Public Works Minister Edgar Montaño and Deputy Ministers Hiver Flores (Tourism) and Jhonny Aguilera (Interior).

”This new route has been a long-standing request from the tourism sector (...) I want to salute the flagship company, BoA, because in less than two years it has opened up new routes,” said Flores.

BoA has launched flights to Iquique and Santiago (Chile), Havana (Cuba), Asunción (Paraguay), Caracas (Venezuela), Lima (Peru), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Madrid (Spain), and Miami (United States).

The new service came just days after Congresswoman Janira Román from Comunidad Ciudadana (CC) criticized the airline's expansion, given the unprofitable Cuba and Venezuela routes, on which BoA has reportedly spent over US$2.5 million since 2023. Román insisted that while the airline was spending millions on these international routes, domestic airports were being neglected.

”While our airports are neglected, the [ruling] Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) has the luxury of spending more than US$2.5 million for aircraft to operate to Havana and Caracas. We know that both destinations are not profitable because there is an average of 60 passengers on an aircraft that has a capacity for more than 100 people,” she said.

Montaño admitted that passenger demand for both destinations fluctuated between 60 and 17 people.

The legislator reported that companies from both countries were awarded contracts for ramp services, cargo transport, passenger services, cargo station security, legal representation, and paperwork.

BoA paid more than US$2.1 million to Cuban firms for ramp and representation services and another US$427,000 to Venezuelan suppliers.