TRANSPORT
National Air Traffic
Air transportation
is – due to the geographical conditions of the country – very
important. Connections between different regions or big cites are
very difficult because of the high mountain ranges. Interurban
traffic of people and freight occurs on narrow roads with many
curves, which additionally are sometimes affected by rainy
seasons. Landslides and deep potholes can occur unexpectedly. A
car trip is song and arduous.
Grafico international airtransport
For example,
traveling time by car from Bogotá to Medellín (about 450 km) adds
up to approximately 8 hours, whereas the flight lasts only 30
minutes. Form Bogotá to Cali (about 500 km) you travel 10 hours by
car and 30 minutes by plane. And to get the Atlantic Coast (about
1000 km) you need two days by car and one hour by jet.
For this reason
even small and intermediate cities have airports for passengers
and freight transportation. Many tourist places, such as Leticia
(Amazon), Puerto Inírida or Puerto Carreño (Orinoco area) can only
be reached by plane. In each bigger Colombian city planes land
several times a day; many airports have night landing facilities.
Responsible for air
traffic, airports, freight and passenger rates is the national but
autonomous Departamento de Aeronáutica Civíl (Department of
Civilian Aviation). The Colombian national airline is AVIANCA, the
oldest company of this kind is South-America. It developed from
the German-Colombian SCADTA (German-Colombian Company of
Air-Transportation) founded in 1919. those daring pioneers started
with adventurous fight routes in small airplanes over the
cordilleras, doing stopovers on the Magdalena River, carrying up
to four passengers or several mail bags.
Unfortunately, the
times of orientation according to the course of a river or a
mountain pike and ingenious repairs with the most primitive means
are not yet over for some Colombian airlines. Under some
circumstances, real museum pieces are still flying, especially in
remote regions. But a new law introduces in 1995 requires that
airplanes older than 40 years should be withdrawn from
circulation.
International Air Transportation
Many big
international airlines land daily in Bogotá, mostly large capacity
airplanes with combined passengers and freight service.
Additionally, there are several freight only frequencies. A great
number of international airlines have representation offices in
Bogotá. With the “Open-Sky-Policies” initiated in 1992, for the
first time in Colombian history a new idea of competitiveness has
become apparent.
New modern
airplanes acquired by ALIANZA SUMMA are competing with new services and
rates offers.
Sea
Transportation
Transportation by
sea still plays an important role in the Colombian economy. Many
of the most important export products, such as coffee, bananas,
coal or cotton, reach any part of the world by ship. Among others,
raw materials, chemicals and machines are imported by sea.
About 20 national
and international shipping lines operate in the Caribbean harbors
(Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Turbo, Puerto Bolívar) and
the Pacific harbors (Buenaventura, Tumaco). The harbors dispose of
many piers and extensive storing capacity. Container harbors exist
in Buenaventura, Cartagena and Barranquilla.
The most important
Colombian harbor is Buenaventura. Annually, about 650.000 tons of
export goods are shipped there. The harbor has been modernized and
among others it shall be provided with new repair shipyards and
fish processing facilities. But there also exists shipyard
capacities on the Caribbean coast. The most important shipyard
there is UNIAL in Barranquilla. Other smaller ones are located in
other harbors.
Until very
recently, the national Harbor Company COLPUERTOS ran harbors
Examples all over the world made it obvious that the State is not
always the right businesses partner for this kind of enterprise.
Colombian harbors are nor only the most expensive ones worldwide,
but also negligence, strikes and thefts are part of the daily
agenda. Radical labor unions managed everything. The transfer into
private property, initiated in 1992, contributed a lot to
redevelopment and reduction of cost. Today most modern technical
installations reduce the time the ships have to stay in the harbor
to a minimum.
The most important
shipping-lines in Colombia are the FLOTA MERCANTE GRANCOLOMBIANA,
AGROMAR S.A., COLOMENARES LTDA and GERMEINCO.
Combined Air – and Sea Transportation
Because of the
difficulties related to the harbor traffic and the bad overland
roads between the harbors and centers such Bogotá or Medellín, the
combined sea/air transportation for freights from and to Colombia
is very unusual. Goods are shipped from Europe to Miami and then
transported to Bogotá or Medellín by plane. Also this way is
recommended regarding shipments to Europe. Every time the
embarking documents should be a Multimodal Bill of Landing in case
the payment is going through a bank.
Route Germany-
Colombia via Miami (destination Bogotá) or vice versa
|
Method of Transportation |
Time of delivery |
Security Factor |
Cost |
Freight Capacity |
|
Air freight
Sea freight
By sea/air |
2 days
28-30 days
18-20 days |
Excellent
Insufficient
Excellent |
Very expensive
Cheap
Expensive |
Often difficult
Sufficient
Not always |
The following
example allows for a comparison between the different kinds of
transport.
Aside from the already mentioned safety and speed factors, it has
to be considered that by this way the cumbersome overland
transport in Colombia is omitted. Customs clearance in the case of
goods traveling to Europe is a lot faster in the airport than in
the harbor, the reloading from the ship to the airplane is managed
more carefully in Miami. And the insurance premium is lower for
this kind of transportation as it would be in the case of the
Colombian overland transport.
CONAIR System
Being an
agricultural country, still another way of transportation Should
be considered. In the case of perishable goods, for which sea
transportation would be – with or without refrigeration- too long
and the air transportation too expensive, the cold storage
transport system with COAIR containers or “freshtainers” is
offered.
CONAIR containers, offer a cooling temperature which can be
individually selected for each product and will be checked during
the journey. In the “freshtainers” the air containing CO” and
oxygen is controlled; these transportation system have provided to
be satisfactory, especially for transporting flowers and bananas.
Also a cool storage container service in a 11 – day frequency from
the Atlantic coast to Europe is offered.
Road Traffic
From each travel
guide you can infer that Colombia has more that 100.000 km of
asphalt road and that the overland transport of goods and
passengers is mainly carried out by motor vehicles. But these
indications should be interpreted with care.
There are only asphalt roads on the coast sides, in the Andean
region and in the valleys in between. Many regions have only rough
roads and no roads at all. Rain and heat can ruin the road quality
from one day to another. You have to take into account the
occurrence of landslides, turned off bridges, or deep holes.
Additionally, in the mountainous regions there are innumerable
hairpin bends, and you should be aware of the fact that behind
each mountain nose a lorry might come on the wrong side of the
road.
Like in many cities around the world, traffic conditions are
simply chaotic. Mostly, traffic lights are only understood as a
kind of advice. People overtake on any side. Buses stop anywhere
in the middle of the road to let passengers get in or out. Boy
guards in jeeps with the arms ready to shoot, ruthlessly make
place for any important personality. There are nor any cab stands,
only in Bogotá about 50.000 taxis are going from one place to
another stopping wherever and whenever they like. In one word: you
should remember the words of astronauts Armstrong. Who - after a
visit in Colombia – clamed that it would be easier to fly to the
moon than to drive a car in Bogotá.
However, relatively few serious accidents happen, mostly you can
get away with a damage to the car body. You need to adapt yourself
to the traffic flow and drive with your complete attention.
In
an unknown city anybody depends on taxis. Foreigners, who do not
know the city or who do not speak Spanish, should be use the
so-called tourist taxis, which you can recognize by their green
with color. Surely, they are a little bit more expensive, but
their drivers are controlled, mostly speak a bit of English and do
nor cheat. You can find them in front of any big hotel.
For overland rides the cross-country vehicle is the ideal car,
shining Mercedes or BMW are an expensiv3e status symbol that never
van be fully used.
Railroad
The transportation by train, for which a narrow rail network of
2.900 km exist, is completely unimportant. Whereas during the 19th
century the railroad was a prospering national enterprise, today
this form of transportation has practically disappeared.
The railroad businesses finally was given over to private
companies by the government who wanted to extend and modernize the
network. It will still take some time before this project will be
completely carried out. But at least the first railroad line to
the harbor Buenaventura on the Pacific coast is operating again.
This initiative is a good solution, considering the reduction of
costs for freight transportation.
