A new nonstop flight is about to make it a whole lot easier to get to Colombia’s Caribbean coast — and it’s coming just in time for summer.
Avianca has officially put tickets on sale for two new daily nonstop routes connecting Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport with Barranquilla and Cali, beginning July 15. Both routes will operate daily — and if you’re heading to the Caribbean, the Barranquilla route is the one to watch. (Avianca is in the midst of a renewed expansion push, including another new route to Venezuela).
That’s because Barranquilla is one of Colombia’s quiet Caribbean powerhouses.
The Colombian port city sits on the Caribbean Sea at the mouth of the Magdalena River, and is one of the most important cultural and commercial cities along Colombia’s Caribbean coast — alongside Cartagena and Santa Marta. It’s also home to Carnaval de Barranquilla, one of the largest carnival celebrations in the world and a UNESCO-recognized cultural heritage event that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors every February.
For travelers who think of Cartagena when they think of Colombia’s Caribbean, Barranquilla is the next logical stop — and the new Fort Lauderdale service makes it dramatically more reachable.
The Routes
The schedule, per Avianca:
Fort Lauderdale to Barranquilla (flight AV 0229) departs at 10:10 p.m. and arrives at 12:05 a.m. The return, Barranquilla to Fort Lauderdale (AV 0228), departs at 4:25 p.m. and arrives at 8:20 p.m. Both operate daily, beginning July 15.
Fort Lauderdale to Cali (AV 0237) departs at 8:55 p.m. and arrives at 11:45 p.m., with the return Cali to Fort Lauderdale (AV 0236) departing at 1:30 a.m. and arriving at 6:25 a.m. The Cali outbound launches July 15; the return begins July 16.
Tickets are now on sale through avianca.com, the Avianca mobile app, the carrier’s Contact Center, physical sales points and travel agencies.
“For Avianca, it is key to continue strengthening connectivity between the United States and Colombia and expanding travel options for our customers,” said David Alemán, Avianca’s Sales Director for Colombia and South America. “This connectivity is complemented by a travel experience that offers different options, from Economy to Business Class and additional services, allowing more people to travel according to their needs and preferences.”
Why Barranquilla Belongs on the Caribbean Map
Barranquilla is the fourth-largest city in Colombia and the largest on the country’s Caribbean coast, with a deep cultural identity that runs through its music, food and architecture. It’s the birthplace of Shakira and one of the great cradles of cumbia and vallenato — the genres that have shaped Colombian Caribbean music for generations.
The city’s historic center has been undergoing a steady renewal in recent years, with the Centro Histórico anchored by the Plaza de San Nicolás, the Teatro Amira de la Rosa and a growing collection of design hotels, restaurants and creative spaces along the Vía 40 corridor and in the El Prado neighborhood — one of the most architecturally striking residential districts on the Caribbean coast.
The food scene punches above its weight, too. The Caribbean Colombian table — built around fresh seafood, coconut rice, fried plantains, arepa de huevo and a deep repertoire of street food — has gained increasing international recognition, and Barranquilla is one of the best places to experience it.
Beyond the city itself, Barranquilla is the practical gateway to a stretch of Colombia’s Caribbean coast that has been quietly emerging as one of the more compelling travel corridors in Latin America — including Santa Marta, the Tayrona National Park rainforest-meets-beach coastline, the laid-back fishing town of Palomino and the increasingly buzzy La Guajira desert peninsula further east.
What It Means for the Caribbean
The new route is a notable one for the broader Caribbean travel map.
Colombia’s Caribbean coast has been one of the most-talked-about emerging destinations in the region over the past several years, with Cartagena leading the way and Santa Marta, Tayrona and Barranquilla following. The challenge for U.S. travelers has often been air access — direct service from the United States has historically been concentrated on Cartagena and Bogotá, leaving Barranquilla as a connecting trip for most travelers.
The new Avianca service changes that calculation.
For travelers in South Florida, the new route puts Barranquilla within a roughly three-hour nonstop flight — opening up the Caribbean side of Colombia in a way that makes both quick trips and combined itineraries (a few nights in Cartagena, a few in Barranquilla, a few in Santa Marta) genuinely easy to plan.
The Bigger Picture
The launch is also part of a broader Avianca strategy to deepen connectivity between the United States and Colombia.
The carrier currently operates more than 400 weekly flights to and from the United States, connecting 14 cities across Latin America with more than 80 destinations across the Americas and Europe through its network. The new Fort Lauderdale routes extend that footprint into one of the most-connected gateways for the Caribbean and Latin America — and add daily lift into two Colombian cities that have historically been harder to reach nonstop from the United States.
Starting July 15, getting to Colombia’s Caribbean coast just got significantly easier — and Barranquilla, one of the region’s most underrated cities, finally has the airlift to match.
Caitlin Sullivan
2026-05-28 19:12:00