SOUTHAMERICA From Colombia, joined Dec 2003, 2486 posts, RR: 17 Posted (8 years 1 month 1 week 5 days 16 hours ago) and read 3015 times:
Greetings,
I decided to divide this Trip Report in 2 Parts, so, according to level of acceptance, I'll write the second part with even more details in a few days.
Please, if you take the time to read the report, take the time to write about it and comment anything. It's always good to receive feedback about things you do, specially to know that people liked them.
Feel free also to do ANY question that you like. I'll be happy to anwer it.
TRIP BACKGROUND
We decided to make this trip within the country (as we usually do in Easter brake) just to rest a bit from the same old rutine that had us trapped in our city (Medellin) straight from Christmas. It was just the perfect time to give ourselves the proper change (at least for a few days) and go visiting some very close relatives that we have in Bogota.
My dad knew that he had to make reservations with time because in Easter, all flights are usually fully-booked, so the trip was almost totally arranged when I noticed (one week before) that we were going to travel to Bogota.
I was pretty excited about the trip, of course, because, although it was a very short one, we were going to travel on Avianca's Business Class due to some good fares that my dad managed to catch when booking.
Anyway, let's get on with the report...
THE TRIP
Wednesday April 7th, 2004.
Our flight was scheduled to depart at 7:30 in the morning, so we decided to leave everything ready from the night before. The three of us got up at 4:30 am, and were ready in no-time, although my mom was being kind of sluggish when picking which clothes to wear. The temperature was pretty low (as usually is before dawn in highlands as these) so we were all well dressed-up. We didn't want to eat anything at home because we thought it was too early to grab anything, and decided only to fetch something for breakfast in the airport.
At 520 approximately, we were ready in our building's lobby waiting for the taxi cab that would drive us to the airport, to arrive.
Our luggage was pretty light, mainly because of the lenght of the trip (only 5 days). Each and every one of us was taking his own suitcase (a grand total of 3), although my mother's piece was larger and obviously heavier comparing it with the other two. No hand luggage, only my mom's purse.
Finally, at 5:30, the taxi arrived. Obviously no daylight could be seen from inside the building and only a foggy sky to the east that I could manage to see was announcing the possibility of the airport being closed. It really was cold outside ! All the neighbor buildings and houses were dark at that time of day. The friendly taxi-driver helped us put our luggage inside his Hyunday Accent, that, by the way, was in pretty good shape. The drive to the airport usually takes 45 minutes, depending on how lazy the driver is. During the first hal of the way, my dad talked with the man about politics and stuff like that, while my mom and I just looked out through the window. Then the driver started to tell us how crowded with tourists the city was, and all the different kinds of people that he had seen 'til then.
At 6:20 in the morning, with the sun already in the horizon, we made our way into the Medellin - Rionegro International Airport area. The driver dropped us in front of the entrance to the Avianca counters and left off.
(In the photo to the left, you can see the black main passenger terminal of the airport in the background, the other terminal where all the cars are parked is the cargo one ::: In the photo to the right, the same terminal I pointed out before is seen here from inside. This is the main ticket counter hall)
In no-time we entered the terminal, and found a rather crowded place with plenty of travelers waiting to get checked. Avianca has placed more than 12 check-in counters in our airport for Economy-class travellers. Fortunately we were traveling in Business, and Avianca has 2 additional counters for premium travellers just like any other decent airline has. We walked up to the mentioned counters and... they were almost empty ! A very kind young lady with awesome teeth offered herself in the counter to check us in. We gave away our tickets, and in return we got our boarding passes, which were printed in a white paper with no grace nor colors whatsoever. Our bags were already checked and taken away. My dad handed out his PRIVILEGIOS frequent flyer program card and got the proper miles. After that, the lady in the sweetest voice and most perfectly pronnounced Spanish you can imagine, invited us to the Avianca Domestic Elite Lounge (in Medellin, Avianca has two lounges, one for domestic flights and the other for international) until our flight was ready for Boarding. We took the invitation cards and made our way to the Lounge, which was not very away (actually the airport itself is not very large - just the right size )
The Domestic Elite Lounge had a big glass entrance with the Summa butterfly above in a different shade. There we found another Avianca lady that was greeting everybody to the room. By then I was already starving. We showed our invitations to the Lounge and boarding passes, and entered the place.
We had about 30 minutes to spend before our flight was called for boarding at 7:10
The Avianca Elite Lounge, which I had never in my life visited, was a pretty nice place with a calmed ambience. A couple of sofas and several chairs and tables were available all around the spacious room. In the very minute we entered I could feel that spectacular Colombian coffee aroma that took me straight to the bar, where mom and I grabed some croissants and coffee. My dad just sticked to the usual glass of good ol' orange juice and took a national newspaper while we sat to wait. There was also a big screen were they were showing some news. I could also see that the latest edition of Avianca's onboard magazine EUFORIA was available in the Lounge. The room was almost completely full as there were two Avianca flights that were due to depart at the same time: our MD-83 for BOG and another MD-83 for CLO (Cali). I cannot imagine how that Lounge must get in peak hours like 6 in the morning.
Anyway, there was a big glass window where one could see part of the apron. I only saw a West Caribbean MD-81 that was delayed (I think) for departure to BOG as well, and at 6:50 I saw our MD-83 arrive from BOG on time.
At about 7:05, the lady in charge of the Elite Lounge announced that Avianca's flight 9305 was almost ready for boarding and so was the flight for Cali, so everybody inmediately headed out for their respective gate (in this case our gate was number 10). When we arrived to the gate, I got the chance to see what the traffic was:
Copa 737-700 getting ready for 8:30 departure for PTY.
American Airlines 757 - 200 getting ready for 9:30 departure for MIA.
Avianca MD-83 boarding for the first MIA flight of the day at 7:30
Avianca MD-83 getting ready for 7:30 departure for BOG (ours)
Avianca MD-83 getting ready for 7:30 departure for CLO
West Caribbean MD-81 parked.
No AeroRepublica traffic at that hour.
Anyway, I sat down on one of the confortable wooden chairs inside the cozy gate waiting for the boarding call. The flight headed to Cali in gate 9 was already boarding, and it was supposed to depart after us !. The other AV MD-83 to MIA via CTG was also boarding.
Finally at 7:15, the flight attendant invited all passengers that needed special assistance or travelling with children under 5 to board. After a few seconds, the same brunette lady politely announced that all passengers travelling in Avianca Business Class / Clase Ejecutiva could board the plane in that moment.
We quickly walked towards the gate, showed our boarding passes and were authorized to head down the rather long jetway. At the entrance of the aircraft, we were warmly welcomed by two very nice flight attendants, one taller than the other one, both with their characteristic uniform that had the mighty butterfly printed all over. We entered the plane, which was, by the way, spotless (good job AV) and one of the mentioned ladies showed us sits. The same flight attendant received my mom's purse (like I said that was all our hand-luggage) while we settled down. My mom had got the window seat, but she didn't complain about me sitting there . From the very moment that the F/A asked us if we wanted something to drink before take-off, I inmediately noticed that warm feeling of friendliness and good service. Neither my dad nor my mom wanted anything; I, on the other hand, asked for an orange juice with plenty of ice.
Avianca Business Class on the MD-83s was rather simple. Leather seats in 2-2 abreast on a cabin for 12 passengers. No PTV, just a couple of screens up front. Seat picth and width were very generous though, and the seats were pretty confortable. There were several audio channels available and head-phones were free. The business cabin for this flight was half-full, with only 7 persons including ourselves.
While time went by, more and more people kept boarding the plane, while I waited for my orange juice to arrive. I guess that the flight was full, but I didn't know for sure because once all passengers were inside, the curtain that separates both cabins was closed. A few minutes before push-back I received my orange juice on a plastic glass with the thousand times-mentioned butterfly on it.
One of the F/As gave everybody the welcome for the flight.
Date: Wednesday, April 7th 2004
Route: MDE-BOG (SKRG-SKBO)(Medellin - Bogota)
Scheduled Off-gate Hour: 7:30
Actual Off-gate Hour: 7:35
Scheduled Arrival Time: 8:20
Actual Arrival Time: 8:25
Total Time in the Air: 25 minutes
This flight was indeed a very short hop. Only 25 minutes of total flight time. Avianca has very well covered this route, with an average of 15 daily flights, all on MD-83/757. AeroRepublica and West Caribbean have their good share in the route also.
Anyway, we pushed back 5 minutes behind schedule, and after the MD-83 for MIA had pushed back. The plane stood still for a few second before beginning to taxi, and then we were off towards runway 36, which was the active for departures this morning.
The proper saftety instructions were given manually, and then the captain spoke to the cabin giving us more details of the flight.
We reached the waiting point for the runway, and waited for the MD-83 for MIA to take off. Then we began to enter the runway, and the pilot did not stop at the threshold; he rather put full-thrust and we were off. As usual, it was very very silet inside the cabin. We kept gaining more and more speed as the MD struggled to reach 130 knots at 7100 ft above sea level !. After a good run and consuming nearly the whole lenghth of the 12000 ft runway, we began a slow rotation, although began climbing in a rather steep angle.
I didn't stop looking outside mi window, seeing all those farms pass by. We inmediately after take-off began banking right towards the east, and kept climbing.
In no-time we reached 10000 ft, and the captain gave the signal that "service" could begin. The friendly flight attendan came down and started offering us in Business an option of breakfast. My dad and I took it and it was pretty good. It consisted in scrambled eggs wrapped in some kind of crèpe, with a small portion of fruit salad by the side. It came with a roll and we each asked for coffee to wash it down. My mom had coffee also, but she stayed away from the breakfast.
We flew about 8 minutes straight to the east, then turned south over the Magdalena river, and then turned east the last 8 minutes towards the Bogota highlands.
The flight had absolutely no turbulence. One of the best flights I've had.
We started our decent into BOG when we were just finishing to eat our food. There were low clouds that did not cause turbulence, like I though at the beginning. The flight attendant passed collecting all the trash (oh I forgot to mention that the food was served all in plastic elements like in coach).
We began our approach into runway 13L over the green Bogota plain. I could barely see the city in the horizon. As we got lower and lower the pilot progressively applied both flaps and spoilers; until I felt the gear cracking down.
(Final approach for runway 13R, the runway in which we landed is not clearly visible from the shot)
We made our way over countryside (which included farms) and landed pretty smoothly on the mentioned runway. The captain applied reverse thrust, and while slowing down, we passed by the domestic and international terminals; the first with a couple of AeroRepublica MD-83s, and the second with a Delta 757-200, a Copa 737NG, a couple of Avianca planes and one AA tail that I didn't get to see to which plane it belonged (maybe 763).
(Overview of the national terminal in BOG (Avianca has one terminal apart for themsleves) although Avianca does operate some flights from this one)
We passed also by the regional ramp and saw a few Satena Do-328 and Dash-8-300. We exit the runway by one of the last taxiways and made a short walk to the Avianca Terminal, where we parked between several Avianca aircraft (which included MDs and 757s).
(SATENA Do-328 parked at the regional ramp in BOG)
We were the firsts to come of the plane, and by the jetway were the two flight attendants from the beginning of the flight waiting everybody to say goodbye.
We made our way to the baggage claim hall and in no time at all we met with our relatives that where kindly waiting for us outside the airport.
---------------------------------------
The experience with Avianca, was, once again, pleasant and great. I hope that the fact that their being partly bough by an international investor won't affect service at all. Business Class is nothing out of the ordinary, but if you think about it, what more can you expect in such a short hop?
Great flight and great, on time service.
Once again, feel free to reply and to comment anything about the report. ANY question is equally welcomed !
Ozzie From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 338 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (8 years 1 month 1 week 5 days 15 hours ago) and read 2939 times:
Excellent report, SOUTHAMERICA. Hope to see you write the return.
Airsicknessbag From Germany, joined Aug 2000, 4723 posts, RR: 45 Reply 3, posted (8 years 1 month 1 week 5 days 9 hours ago) and read 2770 times:
Very nice report, Federico - muchas gracias de escribirlo.
It´s good so see something on AV posted here - since I´ll be flying with them in August. Now I roughly know what to expect and I´m looking very much forward to it.
In this context I have a question, unrelated to your report: Flying on an AV/AV connexion through BOG, namely PTY-BOG-UIO and back, will I need to pass immigration in Colombia?
Also, one question about you report, on your (domestic) flight(s), were the announcements done just in Spanish or also in English?
LatinAviation From Ireland, joined Nov 2003, 1275 posts, RR: 20 Reply 4, posted (8 years 1 month 1 week 5 days 7 hours ago) and read 2763 times:
Federico, great trip report as always! I hope you and your family enjoyed your stay in Bogota. It's amazing that you got any food whatsoever on a flight of that distance - in the US you would get one beverage service in First Class, nada mas.
SOUTHAMERICA From Colombia, joined Dec 2003, 2486 posts, RR: 17 Reply 5, posted (8 years 1 month 1 week 4 days 22 hours ago) and read 2699 times:
Airsicknessbag,
Thanks a lot for your kind words. It's also great to hear you're giving our airline a shot. I hope you have a good experience.
I must admit, your question got me thinking. I'm used to connecting a domestic flight with an international flight, but not two internationals.
I imagined that these type of connections consisted in walking out of the plane, and simply making your way to the other gate from where your next flight will depart.
But I wanted to be sure, so I checked the info on Avianca's onboard magazine, and here's what it says:
"If you are travelling in connection from and to an international destination you will arrive to main international terminal. Once you have left the plane, you must go to the second floor (where all the gates are) and submit to the security controls (the inmigration proceedures were done in your destination of origin). Finally, you just walk to the assigned waiting room and wait for the boarding signal."
I'll try to explain it more from the perspective I understand it. The plane docks to the jetway arriving from PTY, you get off the plane and walk up the jetway, in this moment you step into the mentioned "second floor" were all the gates and waiting rooms are, and you'll probably see all the people waiting to use your same plane for another flight. Then you walk down some stairs to the "first floor" where you'll find a big hall with all the immigration boots. But that's when I get lost because they say you won't need to clear immigration, but I can't recall correctly if there are some separate stairs for those who are just in connection so they can get up to the floor above again.
I really don't know, and I'm sorry not to be able to help you correctly. I think that you should get informed from the flight attendants of your first flight about it, in order to make sure that this little detail won't represent an obstacle for your trip.
Anyway, be sure to comment me (us) about your experience. Is it possible to know in what hours you will be travelling? Just to see if I can give you more insights.
About the service, these are pretty short flights so you wont have much time to enjoy any ammenities at all. Expect meals on both flights, I'm almost positive that Avianca serves meals on all their international flights, no matter how long or short. The aircraft are in perfect conditions, very clean and the interiors (specially the seats) are really nice. Expect one or two cute flight attendants as well.
I'd be really happy to help you out more... so, if you have ANY question, be sure to ask.
Contact me via e-mail through my profile if you wish. It would be really cool to be able to talk with you.
Remember to tell me about which flights you'll be on.
Best Regards,
SOUTHAMERICA
P.S. In domestic flights they don't make announcements in English , sure
about international flights within to hispanic countries, although I do think that flight attendants speak it, specially if they're certified to fly internationally.
Juanr From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 7, posted (8 years 1 month 1 week 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 2612 times:
Airsicknessbag wrote:
"Flying on an AV/AV connexion through BOG, namely PTY-BOG-UIO and back, will I need to pass immigration in Colombia?"
I can tell you for sure, you don't have to pass immigration in BOG, once you get off the plane you will walk downstairs to a long hall on the first floor towards the immigration boots but just before you get there, you'll find at your right side, some Avianca agents that will ask everyone connecting internationally to follow them to a bypass that will lead you to the second floor where the gates and waiting rooms are, so no, your passport will not be stamped at all.
Summa767 From United Kingdom, joined Mar 2004, 2163 posts, RR: 7 Reply 10, posted (8 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 2504 times:
Thanks for that Southamerica. Very nice report indeed, and lucky you that got to travel business, albeit on a short hop.
I made that flight last December, and it was faultless, with the added bonus of a landing on one of the 31 Runways (the one to the right as seeing from the landing perspective). That is probably the most exhilarating landing I have ever experienced: The circular approach with mountains on one side, and the city not very far below was quite a ride!
I saw an AF A40 and a Martinair MD11 do the same just before I boarded a BA 767, where I got upgraded! A nice day!
SOUTHAMERICA From Colombia, joined Dec 2003, 2486 posts, RR: 17 Reply 11, posted (8 years 1 month 1 week 2 days ago) and read 2488 times:
Summa767,
Thanks for your kind reply.
Indeed I agree that the approach over the city for any of the 31 runways is by far the best treat that you could receive when arriving to BOG.
I've been on that approach three times (2 Avianca MD-83s and one AA 757 arriving from MIA) and boy were they exciting !
However, I did not expect that approach this time because the 31 runways are usually activated in the early afternoon until sunset, almost never in the morning (and my flight was precisely pretty early). Oh well, maybe next time..
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From Colombia, joined Dec 2003, 2486 posts, 
A very kind young lady with awesome teeth offered herself in the counter to check us in. We gave away our tickets, and in return we got our boarding passes, which were printed in a white paper with no grace nor colors whatsoever. Our bags were already checked and taken away. My dad handed out his PRIVILEGIOS frequent flyer program card and got the proper miles. After that, the lady in the sweetest voice and most perfectly pronnounced Spanish you can imagine, invited us to the Avianca Domestic Elite Lounge (in Medellin, Avianca has two lounges, one for domestic flights and the other for international) until our flight was ready for Boarding. We took the invitation cards and made our way to the Lounge, which was not very away (actually the airport itself is not very large - just the right size 
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