Avianca Cargo Launches Dedicated Bogotá–Caracas Freighter Service

BOGOTA – Avianca Cargo has launched dedicated freighter operations between Bogotá (BOG) and Caracas (CCS), strengthening a corridor the airline has been reestablishing since resuming passenger service earlier this year.

The first freighter flight operated on March 7, 2026, with weekly service using an Airbus A330 freighter that provides up to 60 tons of capacity per flight. This is supplemented by approximately 7 additional tons per week in the belly holds of Avianca’s passenger flights on the same route, according to Air Cargo Week.

Passenger service resumes, expands

Avianca (AV) previously confirmed it would resume daily passenger flights between Bogotá and Caracas starting February 12, 2026, restoring a key link between Colombia and Venezuela. The airline has opened sales for a second daily frequency, set to begin March 28, 2026, further increasing capacity and connection options through its Bogotá hub.

For shippers, the new A330 freighter offers a significant and reliable weekly increase in capacity, supporting time-sensitive cargo that requires direct uplift instead of multi-stop trucking or less dependable space on passenger aircraft.

For Avianca, this marks another step in restoring bilateral connectivity on the cargo side, as regional airlines increasingly balance passenger network growth with dedicated freight demand.

History of cargo ops between BOG and CCS

The exclusive freighter service between Bogotá and Caracas with an A330‑200F is really a restoration of dedicated cargo capacity on this corridor for the first time in many years, complementing long‑standing belly cargo on passenger flights.

Avianca’s historic Bogotá–Caracas passenger route dates back roughly six decades; AeroTime, for example, notes that Avianca served BOG–CCS for about 60 years before suspending the route in 2017 amid political tensions.

Throughout that period, cargo moved in the bellies of passenger aircraft (first widebodies at times, more recently A320 family). Today, the new A330F operation complements the "existing belly cargo on passenger flights," as implies that belly freight has been the backbone of BOG–CCS cargo both before and after the 2017–2024 interruptions.

In 2025–2026, AV emphasizes the resumption and then daily operation of passenger flights AV142/AV143 between Bogotá and Caracas, again with standard narrowbody belly capacity, so the new A330F on the route is a great news.

Tampa/Avianca Cargo freighters to Caracas

Tampa Cargo (now Avianca Cargo) has served Caracas as a freighter destination for decades, operating from Colombian hubs including Bogotá and Medellín.

A detailed historical profile shows that by 1993, Tampa was flying to Bogotá, Cali, and Barranquilla in Colombia and to Lima, Quito, Panamá, Caracas, San José, San Juan, Miami, New York, London, and Brussels with a DC‑8/B707 fleet, indicating a mature all‑cargo network linking Colombia and Venezuela well before the Avianca rebranding.

Later fleet histories place Bogotá explicitly as a hub for Tampa/Avianca Cargo, which strongly suggests that Caracas was tied into Colombia‑origin traffic flows via Bogotá and/or Medellín, even if individual sectors (e.g., BOG–CCS vs MDE–CCS vs multi‑stop routings) are not spelled out in public schedules.

Contemporary enthusiast accounts recall Tampa Cargo as a very common freighter visitor at Caracas/Maiquetía, so we're glad to see AV’s cargo arm back in CCS with a dedicated freighter service.