Canadian leisure airline Sunwing is launching a new route to San Andrés (ADZ), a Colombian island in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Nicaragua.

Flights from Montreal (YUL) will begin on Dec. 14, operating once a week on Wednesdays. The carrier said there is the potential to add more frequencies during the winter season should there be sufficient customer demand.

San Andrés is a popular vacation destination for Colombian travelers thanks to its white-sand beaches and coral reefs, with about 40 scuba diving sites.

At the present time, about 98% of the capacity to the island is from destinations in Colombia, data provided by OAG Schedules Analyser shows. The sole international flights are American Airlines’ 2X-weekly route to ADZ from Miami (MIA) and Copa Airlines’ flights from Panama City (PTY), which also operate twice a week.

Canada and San Andrés have been linked nonstop in the past by Air Transat. The airline offered a seasonal winter service from Montreal, operating from December 2017 through April 2018 and during the same months for the following two northern winter seasons.

However, OAG data shows that the last time Air Transat served ADZ was in March 2020 at the onset of the pandemic.

Sunwing currently operates a network of 45 routes, offering 43,281 weekly seats. The top five routes by capacity are Toronto Pearson (YYZ)-Cancun (CUN); Toronto Pearson-Punta Cana (PUJ); Montreal-Cancun; Toronto Pearson-Varadero (VRA); and Montreal-Punta Cana.

Overall, approximately 38% of Sunwing’s current capacity is to destinations in Cuba, 28% to Mexico, and 22% to the Dominican Republic.