Commercial international flights restarted in Cartagena and Bogota on Monday, September 21 after an almost six months hiatus due to the pandemic.

The first two routes connect with the United States, and flights to and from Brazil, Bolivia, Guatemala, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Mexico are expected to resume soon.

“We saw dozens of Colombians happy to return to their country, to visit their loved ones through flights with strong biosecurity protocols," said President Iván Duque

Considered a World Historical Heritage by Unesco, Cartagena de Indias is one of the main tourist sites in Colombia, with the arrival of cruise ships and thousands of foreign tourists every year.

The city was severely affected by the new coronavirus, to the point that in June bodies accumulated in hospitals and houses due to delays in the collection of bodies. But the contagion curve stabilized in September, according to the National Institute of Health.

The pandemic has left more than 24,000 deaths and 750,000 infections in the nation of about 50 million inhabitants.