Trade Minister Sergio Diaz-Granados said the Spanish airline will offer direct flights between Madrid and Cartagena. The low cost carrier already operates South American routes to Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, as well as Cuba, Jamaica and Mexico in the Caribbean.

Diaz-Granados added that the company is going to add healthy competition between the airlines which will lead to lower prices for flights to Europe. VivaColombia, a low cost carrier, will begin to operate national routes in 2012.The minister said that negotiations about the new route had been taking place for several months and in the last few hours an agreement was reached.
An Open Skies agreement between Colombia and the U.S. was signed Tuesday aimed at increasing the number of passenger and cargo flights between the two countries.