As of November 9, the United Kingdom will eliminate the entry visa requirement for citizens of Colombia, Guyana, and Peru for six-month trips. In addition, several airlines have welcomed this announcement and aim to improve air connectivity between the UK and South America and the Caribbean.
Colombia
Avianca welcomes this decision and is working with Heathrow Airport (LHR) authorities to increase its services between Bogota (BOG) and London (LHR) by 2023, recently the company obtained several slot pairs at Heathrow, coming from Aeroflot, which were revoked by the airport authority to the Russian airline because of the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
«As soon as the post-pandemic restrictions were lifted, we were the first to want to fly, today we also welcome the government’s decision and believe it is an opportunity to have incremental capacity to and from that destination. We will work together with the authorities and Heathrow Airport to make it a reality,» said Adrian Neuhauser, President and CEO of Avianca.
In 2014, Avianca began operations between Bogota (BOG) and London (LHR) with daily flights and is the only airline to connect the UK and Colombia with non-stop services. By 2022, the Colombian airline on this route has mobilized almost 90,000 passengers and 2,500 tons of cargo on four hundred flights.
Flight Itinerary
- Bogota – London Flight AV 120 BOG 23:15 – LHR 15:39+1
- London – Bogota Flight AV 121 LHR 22:40 – BOG 03:29+1
The route will be operated by Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft with a capacity of 250 seats in two classes (28 Business Class/222 Economy) and will operate daily.
Guyana
Airline operators such as InterCaribbean praised the move, offering Guyanese travelers the ability to connect to London via its non-stop service between Georgetown (GEO) and Bridgetown, Barbados (BGI), which operates nine flights a week.
In addition, as of March 27, 2023, British Airways will be the only European carrier to operate in Guyana where it offers connection from London via St. Lucia (UVF) with two weekly flights operated on Boeing 777-200ERs.
Flight Itinerary
- London Gatwick – St. Lucia Flight BA 2159 LGW 11:35 – UVF 15:35+1 Monday and Thursday
- St. Lucia – Georgetown Flight BA 2159 UVF 16:25 – GEO 18:05 Monday and Thursday.
- Georgetown – St. Lucia Flight BA 2158 GEO 19:50 – UVF 20:15 monday and Thursday.
- St. Lucia – London Gatwick Flight BA 2158 UVF 22:15 – GEO 11:45+1 Thursday and Sunday.
In 2019, 7,630 Britons arrived in the country and more than 27,000 Guyanese reside in the United Kingdom, according to the UK Department of Migration.
Peru
Currently there are no non-stop services between Peru and the United Kingdom, the last operation between both nations was by British Airways with a route between London Gatwick (LGW) – Lima (LIM), for the moment the company has not yet announced its return to the Inca country.
According to data obtained by Aviacionline through the UK Civil Aviation Authority 43,281 passengers were mobilized in 2019 between London and Lima.
This visa elimination decision will also increase the flow of short-term travel of Peruvian students and researchers to the UK, an excellent academic center. UK universities accept more than 500 Peruvian students each year. It will also help boost investment and trade opportunities between the two nations, particularly in the mining sector.
