Emirates New Route Miami- Bogota Now On Sale
Now here's a route I have been following for a while, that has piqued my interest. Finally, the Miami- Bogota route has been confirmed by Emirates and is on sale!
The Route
Starting June 3rd, 2024, Emirates will fly a 777-300 from Dubai- Miami- Bogota once daily with the following schedule.
EK213 Dubai to Miami Leaving 2:15 AM and arriving at 10:05 AM
EK213 Miami to Bogota Leaving 12:35 PM and arriving at 3:25 PM
EK214 Bogota to Miami Leaving 5:25 PM and arriving at 10:15 PM
EK214 Miami to Dubai Leaing 12:45 AM and arriving at 11:00 PM
Something to note from a passenger's viewpoint departing Miami, the schedule has been pushed back as the Miami- Bogota segment used to depart at 9:10 pm. Emirates has a big enough market where I don't see this being an issue with load factors.
Pricing
AA flies multiple times daily between Miami and Bogota, as well as Avianca, LATAM, and Jetblue (1x daily FLL). Emirates will be the second carrier to offer business class on this route, and the first to offer First Class.
So what does the pricing look like? For economy prices flatline at 483$ roundtrip, which is above their competitors on the route.
While for business class, the prices are a lot steeper than AA, the only other airline to offer business class on this route. With American Airlines business shy of 1000$ round trip, and half of that one way, something is going to have to change.
It's interesting to see when originating in Miami, it seems to be quite a bit expensive.
I'm not entirely sure Emirates understands the US market, as often one way over here (unlike the Middle East carriers) is priced at half of the total.
Lastly, First Class is bookable but for astronomical prices. Let's just say it's cheaper to fly nonstop from Sao Paulo to Dubai than this short hop to Bogota, 13,000. I believe the prices will come down in the 3 quarter of 2024 but we shall see.
Points bookings are currently not available but hopefully will be soon.
My Thoughts On This New Route
In concept, I love the idea of being able to fly from Miami to Bogota with Emirates. Let me add a few thoughts to the launching of this route.
While US carriers don't offer lie-flat routes to anywhere north of Lima, Delta does operate a 767 to Bogota.
El Dorado airport has an elevation of 8500 feet meaning a nonstop flight would be virtually impossible unless it was heavily weight-restricted.
EK has a lower cost per seat on this route and plenty of cargo demand, so it might just turn a profit.
The aircraft was already sitting on the ground in Miami for 10 hours a day, which is a loss of profit that could be made.
The opening of this route could be good for consumers since it should drive some other prices down from airlines.
However, prices are a lot more expensive than other carriers for the time being, I am curious to see if they decrease.
Lastly, this route makes sense as EK's next expansion with the carrier already flying to Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Rio and Buenos Aires.
What I am most curious about is to see the load factors over the 3rd quarter of 2024 for business and first class. I have no doubt this route will sell economy seats, I would be curious to see how many days the aircraft goes out full in premium cabins.
Final Thoughts
Emirates has just launched its next fifth freedom route, Miami- Bogota. While on paper this seems to be a good route for them, with plenty of downtime for the aircraft between the outbound to Miami and the return, combined with the cargo demand, only time will tell if this route is profitable. For now, fares are a lot steeper than their competitors but I wouldn't be surprised to see them come down slightly.
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