Avianca is continuing the process of introducing business class on more routes within the Americas, reversing a decision that was made back in 2022. While the airline has been progressively restoring business class on routes since 2023, the airline is really supercharging the number of routes that will have this product.
Avianca cut business class on most routes in 2022
For some background, in the past few years, Avianca has nicely transformed its business, by becoming a more efficient airline. As part of this, the airline eliminated business class on flights within the Americas as of October 2022.
Not only did Avianca reconfigure its Airbus A320s to remove business class and add 20% more seats, but the airline also stopped selling business class seats on flights within the Americas that were operated by Boeing 787s. Instead, these premium cabins were just sold as seats with more space, but without additional service.
With this policy change, Avianca only maintained business class on transatlantic flights to Europe. I thought from the beginning that this was the wrong move. The airline started reversing course on this in August 2023, by restoring business class on some routes. The airline has progressively been ramping up business class in more markets since then, and we’re now seeing the latest example of that.
Avianca restores business class on 80+ routes
Avianca has progressively been restoring business class on routes within the Americas for nearly two years now. As a first step, in August 2023, Avianca restored business class on the following routes within the Americas, when operated by a Boeing 787:
- Bogota (BOG) to Buenos Aires (EZE)
- Bogota (BOG) to Miami (MIA)
- Bogota (BOG) to Sao Paulo (GRU)
- San Salvador (SAL) to Miami (MIA)
Then as of July 2024, Avianca restored business class on the following routes (five hours and longer) operated by the Airbus A320:
- Business class is offered on flights between Bogota (BOG) and Boston (BOS), Buenos Aires (EZE), Mexico City (MEX), Miami (MIA), Montevideo (MVD), New York (JFK), Rio de Janeiro (GIG), Santiago (SCL), Sao Paulo (GRU), Toronto (YYZ), and Washington (IAD)
Then as of December 2024, Avianca restored business class on the following routes routes operated by the Airbus A320:
- Business class is offered on flights between Bogota (BOG) and Asuncion (ASU), Buenos Aires (AEP), Chicago (ORD), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Georgetown (GEO), Lima (LIM), Montreal (YUL), Orlando (MCO), and Panama City (PTY)
- Business class is offered on flights between Medellin (MDE) and Buenos Aires (EZE), Lima (LIM), New York (JFK), Santiago (SCL), and Sao Paulo (GRU)
- Business class is offered on flights between San Salvator (SAL) and Bogota (BOG), Lima (LIM), Los Angeles (LAX), Medellin (MDE), Mexico City (MEX), New York (JFK), Panama City (PTY), San Francisco (SFO), and Washington (IAD)
As the next step, for flights as of September 15, 2025, Avianca is restoring business class on the following routes operated by the Airbus A320:
- Business class will be offered on flights between Bogota (BOG) and Aruba (AUA), Cancun (CUN), Caracas (CCS), Curacao (CUR), Cusco (CUZ), Dallas (DFW), Guatemala City (GUA), Guayaquil (GYE), Havana (HAV), La Paz (LPB), Manaus (MAO), Punta Cana (PUJ), Quito (UIO), San Jose (SJO), San Juan (SJU), Santa Cruz de la Sierra (VVI), Santa Domingo (SDQ), and Tampa (TPA)
- Business class will be offered on flights between Medellin (MDE) and Cancun (CUN), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Guayaquil (GYE), Mexico City (MEX), Miami (MIA), Panama City (PTY), Punta Cana (PUJ), Quito (UIO), San Jose (SJO), and San Juan (SJU)
- Business class will be offered on flights between San Salvator (SAL) and Boston (BOS), Cancun (CUN), Dallas (DFW), Guatemala City (GUA), Guayaquil (GYE), Houston (IAH), Managua (MGA), Miami (MIA), Ontario (ONT), Quito (UIO), San Jose (SJO), San Pedro Sula (SAP), Tegucigalpa (TGU), and Toronto (YYZ)
With these changes, we’re seeing Avianca essentially restore its business class on a vast majority of international flights. I’m happy to see this, and think it’s a pretty logical move. The reality is that the demand for premium air travel has continued to grow, and I think Avianca was also losing some transatlantic business class traffic to other airlines due to not offering business class on connecting flights.
The airline found a happy middle ground here, it seems. A320s are configured much more efficiently than in the past, but by having a business class product, Avianca can now compete better for premium travelers. Just keep in mind that Avianca’s A320 business class isn’t much to get excited about — it’s better than economy, but not as good as your typical business class product.
Bottom line
Avianca is continuing to reintroduce business class on more routes. With the latest change, we’re seeing Avianca restore business class on a vast majority of international flights within the Americas.
The airline first cut business class on all flights within the Americas as of 2022, but started reversing course within a year. We’ve progressively seen more routes with business class added back, and as of September 2025, we’re going to see dozens more routes get a business class cabin.
I think this is a smart change on Avianca’s part. Just manage your expectations when it comes to the quality of the carrier’s business class.
What do you make of Avianca expanding business class to more routes?
