Avianca Cargo is typically associated with its South American operation, based in Bogotá, Colombia. However, lesser known is its extensive operation at Miami International Airport where the airline has managed to secure a position as one of the top three leading cargo airlines. Speaking with Simple Flying’s Dillon Shah, Senior Vice President Diogo Elias detailed how important the airport is to the company and what’s next.
Miami and Los Angeles are key North American hubs
Elias mentioned both Miami and Los Angeles as important cities for the carrier. It operates several cargo flights from both hubs, in addition to passenger services for which belly capacity can often be used.
“In North America, our main hub is Miami where we are one of the top three cargo airlines connecting over 25 destinations. Also, Los Angeles is a strategic connecting hub and plays a key role on our West Coast network, where we strengthen recent operations to and from Mexico.”
Photo: Avianca
From Miami, Avianca Cargo offers dedicated freighter flights to Colombia and several other destinations across South America, including in Ecuador, El Salvador, México, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and more.
“Miami is one of our largest cargo HUBs where we continue consolidating our leadership by operating ~60 weekly freighter frequencies and ~64 under our cargo belly operation, all out of this important gateway.”
Hub expansion
Avianca Cargo’s operation at Miami International Airport (MIA) is fairly impressive, especially when looking at recent improvements. Over 2024, the airline managed to increase handling capacity considerably. It tells Simple Flying that this was reflected in an 83% increase in handling capacity during the previous Valentine’s season, “thanks to the investment in our temperature-controlled facility in Miami.”
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Avianca Cargo deployed extra capacity to cope with the growing demand for flowers in the United States in the run-up to Valentine’s Day.
Other achievements, the carrier notes, include a 20% improvement in delivery times thanks to general investments in the Miami hub. A switch to 100% paperless delivery processes in Miami this year have also contributed to enhanced efficiency, and more concretely help with “control and traceability.”
“According to our commitment to achieving the highest service levels in our main and busiest hubs, we invested in our facilities and processes to increase capacity and improve time efficiency.”
What type of cargo is carried?
Generally speaking, Avianca Cargo carried a mix of perishable and non-perishable goods, split roughly 50-50. This is, as Elias puts it, because Latin America is “by nature a highly concentrated perishable export market.” He specified the typical sorts of goods that the company transports from some of its key gateways in South America:
“Our product portfolio has a strategic combination of perishables from different countries, such as salmon from Chile, fruits from Brazil and Central America, flowers from Ecuador and Colombia, the berry and cherry season from the south, seeds, and vegetables, among others.”
Overall, flowers make up the majority of products that are sent northbound, which account for about 65%. A further 28% represents fruit transport. Imports into South America from northern destinations are primarily luxury brands, pharmaceuticals and general cargo.
Specifically looking at the Miami operation, the inbound shipments are inevitably perishables. On the way down, however, MIA serves as an export hub for transport technology and e-commerce, Elias adds.
The new Liège to Miami route & Turkish Airlines codeshare
Avianca Cargo recently announced that it was launching a new flight connecting Liège with Miami, facilitatated by a Turkish Airlines codeshare for which the parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
“The Liege-Miami operation is designed to make Liege function as a hub, connecting European and Asian markets with Avianca Cargo’s extensive network in Latin America through Miami.
Photo: Celso Diniz | Shutterstock
Conversely, it also enables us to link key Latin American markets—such as salmon, flowers, and fruits from Colombia and Ecuador—with Europe and Asia via Liege through Miami. This operation strengthens our global connectivity and enhances the flow of goods across continents.”
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The aircraft will used primarily to transport perishable goods such as fruits and flowers.
Elias also specified that the new agreement with Turkish Airlines would allow for several “collaboration initiatives” including freighter capacity agreements across networks.
“Nowadays Avianca cargo is able to connect to over 350 destinations worldwide through cargo flights, passenger flights and interline agreements with airlines like Turkish or Cathay.”