Four carriers will add service to Colombia

The Transportation Department has tentatively awarded new Colombia routes to four U.S. airlines. The routes are all to Bogota, and all for one daily roundtrip. They include Delta from New York JFK, JetBlue from Orlando, Spirit from Ft. Lauderdale and Continental from Houston. The tentative decision would also take away one daily Miami-Bogota flight from American. The awards are the result of a September 2007 revision of the U.S.-Colombia aviation agreement designed to increase capacity to the Colombian capital. Once the decision is made final, Delta will be able to start its new route immediately; JetBlue and Spirit can start on April 1; and Continental on October 1. DOT said air travel between the two countries has been growing by about 50,000 passengers a year. Separately, Spirit Airlines said it will begin new daily service to Cartagena from Ft. Lauderdale starting May 8.