Central American aviation thread - 2018

tommyarias · Tue Mar 13, 2018 7:36 pm

From March 9th:

Aeronáutica Panamá (@aacivilpty): Plane in flight plan to Enrique Malek Airport in David, Chiriqui from Marcos A. Gelabert Airport, reported hydraulic problems landing without major problems on the landing strip. No damage to passengers is reported.

The flight is operated by HP-1764PST, one of Air Panama's Fokker 100. A summary of all 7P's F100:

HP-1763PST: Cannibalised at PAC to support the fleet.
HP-1764PST: Back into service after two days at DAV after the hydraulic problem.
HP-1894PST: Stored at PAC since being grounded at DAV two months after an engine failure.
HP-1895PST: Recently back in the fleet after stored nearly one year at MEX waiting for engines. Only operated PAC-SJO March 9 and 11. Not flown since.
HP-1896PST: Operating PAC-MED and PAC-AXM.
CS-TPB, CS-TPC, CS-TPD and CS-TPE are planned to join the fleet.

juanchito · Sat Mar 17, 2018 3:25 am

Volaris started yesterday flights SJO-SAL-LAX and tomorrow they will start SJO-GUA-LAX

Juanchito

yellowtail · Mon Mar 19, 2018 7:23 pm

How are Volaris doing on SJO-CUN and GUA-CUN. I have heard anecdotally that the flights are hit and miss LF wise.

juanchito · Mon Mar 19, 2018 7:34 pm

yellowtail wrote:
How are Volaris doing on SJO-CUN and GUA-CUN. I have heard anecdotally that the flights are hit and miss LF wise.

I know that CUN-GUA-CUN has an average of 105 pax per flight around 67 LF

Here is a forum with statistics by airline and country.

Only spanish

2017 statistic
http://www.flyapm.com/foro/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=257

2018 statistic
http://www.flyapm.com/foro/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=264

SJOtoLIR · Fri Mar 23, 2018 2:33 am

yellowtail wrote:
How are Volaris doing.

The picture shows the actual availability at volaris.com for the first week of April 2018 on Q6 SJO-GDL 3x weekly.
That flight is loaded with only 23 seats on the 319 jet by now.
Their empty seats have been displayed in dark blue color as shown below.

Regards.

SJOtoLIR · Fri Mar 23, 2018 12:49 pm

Everything’s ready for the first flight to Panama City on Air China.

CA 885...PEK 07:40...08:20 IAH 10:50.......14:30 PTY.......773...Th, Sa
CA 886...PTY 16:30...20:15 IAH 01:00+1...04:50+2 PEK...773...Th, Sa
Effective: April 05
Fully traffic rights on the PTY-IAH sector and back.

Regards.

2travel2know2 · Sat Mar 24, 2018 2:13 am

SJOtoLIR wrote:
CA 885...PEK 07:40...08:20 IAH 10:50.......14:30 PTY.......773...Th, Sa
CA 886...PTY 16:30...20:15 IAH 01:00+1...04:50+2 PEK...773...Th, Sa
Effective: April 05
Fully traffic rights on the PTY-IAH sector and back.

Does that mean a 4+ hour stop in IAH en-route to PEK?

SJOtoLIR · Wed Mar 28, 2018 12:23 pm

2travel2know2 wrote:
Does that mean a 4+ hour stop in IAH en-route to PEK?

Exactly !
In my view, one different crew should be attending the IAH-PTY-IAH sector.
Furthermore, the immigration service is compulsory once in Houston for those passengers flying from Panama City to Asia and back.

Regards.

SJOtoLIR · Wed Mar 28, 2018 1:02 pm

The photo shows a very decent load factor in Volaris Costa Rica.
However, the illustration belongs to the high season where it is logical to expect a better occupation on flights.

Regards.

LTU932 · Thu Mar 29, 2018 12:43 pm

It's finally underway: LH 518 and their (to my knowledge) LH's first regular scheduled service to Central America, is on the way to SJO, although it departed with a 43 minute delay. Per Flightradar24, it is estimated to arrive 40 minutes late at SJO as of right now.

Kilgen · Thu Mar 29, 2018 1:45 pm

LTU932 wrote:
It's finally underway: LH 518 and their (to my knowledge) LH's first regular scheduled service to Central America, is on the way to SJO, although it departed with a 43 minute delay. Per Flightradar24, it is estimated to arrive 40 minutes late at SJO as of right now.

Unless you are referring to the historical "Central America" (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica), then yes. Otherwise, you forgot that LH already flies to PTY.

LTU932 · Thu Mar 29, 2018 3:07 pm

Kilgen wrote:
LTU932 wrote:
It's finally underway: LH 518 and their (to my knowledge) LH's first regular scheduled service to Central America, is on the way to SJO, although it departed with a 43 minute delay. Per Flightradar24, it is estimated to arrive 40 minutes late at SJO as of right now.

Unless you are referring to the historical "Central America" (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica), then yes. Otherwise, you forgot that LH already flies to PTY.

Yeah, I remembered just now to clarify that. I apologise to anyone from Panama and Belize for this misunderstanding (BTW, I can't wait until my flight to PTY in a couple of weeks and walk through the city again for the first time in over 30 years). I was indeed thinking about the historical Central America and not the geographical Central America.

LTU932 · Thu Mar 29, 2018 8:05 pm

Update: ETA per Flightradar24 is now 17:33 hrs CST, 22 minutes ahead of schedule, plus it's about to meet with DE 2235, which is returning from SJO via SDQ. Just wanted to note this because of the coincidence, one is leaving SJO, says hi to the one flying to SJO.

yellowtail · Fri Mar 30, 2018 2:54 pm

DE is going to be in real trouble at SJO (since it has a SDQ stopover) against LH.

Perhaps they should consider moving the tag to GUA or CTG where there is less competition

LTU932 · Fri Mar 30, 2018 3:56 pm

yellowtail wrote:
DE is going to be in real trouble at SJO (since it has a SDQ stopover) against LH.

Perhaps they should consider moving the tag to GUA or CTG where there is less competition

I don't think you can compare DE with LH that much, because DE departs FRA late at night and LH in the afternoon. LH will likely cater a bit more to business traffic and even diplomatic traffic for the German embassy. Plus I dunno if 767s have the legs to make FRA-GUA nonstop, considering that FRA-SJO takes about 12 hours flight on the westbound. SU did pull of SVO-LAX on a 767, but that was a north-south routing IIRC, so you don't have to put up with the strong headwinds on the westbound segment over the North Atlantic during the winter.

What DE should do (and I don't understand why nothing happened on that front) is invest in new or at least newer aircraft, like in A330s or used 772s.

rubiohiguey · Fri Mar 30, 2018 5:04 pm

LTU932 wrote:
yellowtail wrote:
DE is going to be in real trouble at SJO (since it has a SDQ stopover) against LH.

Perhaps they should consider moving the tag to GUA or CTG where there is less competition
I don't think you can compare DE with LH that much, because DE departs FRA late at night and LH in the afternoon. LH will likely cater a bit more to business traffic and even diplomatic traffic for the German embassy. Plus I dunno if 767s have the legs to make FRA-GUA nonstop, considering that FRA-SJO takes about 12 hours flight on the westbound. SU did pull of SVO-LAX on a 767, but that was a north-south routing IIRC, so you don't have to put up with the strong headwinds on the westbound segment over the North Atlantic during the winter.

What DE should do (and I don't understand why nothing happened on that front) is invest in new or at least newer aircraft, like in A330s or used 772s.

I think yellowtail meant tag on tu GUA or CTG from SDQ, not a direct flight. A tag on SDQ - CTG would be great for me as I live in the DR.

LTU932 · Fri Mar 30, 2018 6:02 pm

rubiohiguey wrote:
I think yellowtail meant tag on tu GUA or CTG from SDQ, not a direct flight. A tag on SDQ - CTG would be great for me as I live in the DR.

Then again, remember that DE is operating FRA-PTY as well (with stops via SDQ and SJU), along with LH, so if DE appears to make PTY work with LH offering the nonstop option, they can also continue to make SJO work.

Kilgen · Fri Mar 30, 2018 7:18 pm

LTU932 wrote:
rubiohiguey wrote:
I think yellowtail meant tag on tu GUA or CTG from SDQ, not a direct flight. A tag on SDQ - CTG would be great for me as I live in the DR.
Then again, remember that DE is operating FRA-PTY as well (with stops via SDQ and SJU), along with LH, so if DE appears to make PTY work with LH offering the nonstop option, they can also continue to make SJO work.

DE stopped flying to PTY a couple of months after LH entered the market. The way DE serves PTY is by connecting passengers using CM at SDQ and PUJ..

LTU932 · Fri Mar 30, 2018 10:05 pm

Kilgen wrote:
DE stopped flying to PTY a couple of months after LH entered the market. The way DE serves PTY is by connecting passengers using CM at SDQ and PUJ..

I missed that then. I stand corrected. I honestly thought they were still flying to PTY.

yellowtail · Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:35 am

German embassy and business traffic alone will not sustain this LH SJO flight. And there are very few connection opportunities (like in PTY). This flight is about tourism, plain and simple. And for that they will be going head to head with DE, Who is running a one stop. I give DE 6 months before they throw in the towel against LH on FRA SJO.

LTU932 · Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:35 pm

yellowtail wrote:
German embassy and business traffic alone will not sustain this LH SJO flight.

I didn't say it would sustain the flight, I said that it caters a bit more to diplomatic and business traffic than DE would (and let's face it, no disrespect to DE but which business man or diplomat wants to fly on a tourist airline anyway when on official business?). I am aware that this is a leisure route first and foremost.

SJOtoLIR · Sat Mar 31, 2018 3:01 pm

Condor Flugdienst is also operating DE MUC-SDQ-SJO 1x weekly with 763, aside from DE FRA-SDQ-SJO 2x weekly with 763.
Having said that, I don't think the opening of LH FRA-SJO 2x weekly will suddenly stop the services of DE in San Jose.

Regards.

SJOtoLIR · Sat Mar 31, 2018 3:22 pm

Evelop Airlines will start operating a new route connecting Lisboa, Portugal to San Jose, Costa Rica.
The airline will fly once a week at first in April 2018 on a Airbus 330-300 with capacity for 388 passengers.
Evelop Airlines is branded as: evelop!
It's a Spaniard charter airline based at Palma de Mallorca Airport that operates a selection of short and long haul flights out of Spain and Portugal, on behalf of tour operators.

IATA code: E9.

Related link in Spanish language: https://www.elespanol.com/economia/empr ... 528_0.html

Regards.

LTU932 · Sat Mar 31, 2018 4:22 pm

I hope for their sake they're not eventually becoming the next Air Comet or Air Madrid.

SJOtoLIR · Sat Mar 31, 2018 5:07 pm

LTU932 wrote:
LH's first regular scheduled service to Central America, is on the way to SJO, although it departed with a 43 minute delay.

Picture from the first flight to San Jose on LH FRA-SJO 2x weekly.

Regards.

LTU932 · Sat Mar 31, 2018 7:41 pm

And the caption in that picture is wrong because last Thursday was the first regular scheduled flight operated by LH between FRA and SJO. There was a charter flight over 5 years ago that came to SJO from MUC, operated by LH.

SJOtoLIR · Thu Apr 05, 2018 1:31 am

One of the 319s operated by Volaris Costa Rica has been nick-named as Guatemala and featuring the Alux Nahual logo as shown below.
It's a legendary rock band from Guatemala.
Type: Airbus 319-133.
Registered as: N504VL.
First flight date: July 08th, 2008.

Regards.

juanchito · Thu Apr 05, 2018 2:46 pm

SJOtoLIR wrote:
One of the 319s operated by Volaris Costa Rica has been nick-named as Guatemala and featuring the Alux Nahual logo as shown below.
It's a legendary rock band from Guatemala.
Type: Airbus 319-133.
Registered as: N504VL.
First flight date: July 08th, 2008.

Regards.

Volaris CR did that when they got the A319 and send back to Volaris the A320.

A picture I took last week, flight coming from LAX

Kilgen · Thu Apr 05, 2018 9:18 pm

Looks like CM will stop flying to Venezuela. As the Venezuelan Government has suspended comercial relationships with Panamanian Companies for 90 days, including Copa Airlines.

http://www.elimpulso.com/featured/gobie ... a-airlines

tommyarias · Fri Apr 06, 2018 9:17 am

From Copa's website: (In Spanish)

Copa Airlines announces that the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ordered, by resolution published in Official Gazette No. 6369, on April 5, 2018, the suspension of the economic, commercial and financial relationship with subjects of the Republic of Panama, which includes the suspension of Copa Airlines flights to Venezuela for a period of 90 days extendable.

In order to provide assistance to passengers who have scheduled flights to and from Venezuela in the next 90 days, Copa Airlines offers the possibility of reimbursing the total value of their unused airline tickets without penalties. In the same way, passengers who have started their flight may reimburse the unused route without penalties.

https://www.copaair.com/en/web/gs/important-information-about-flights-venezuela-apr-18-release?d1=SMO_APR_MM_es_05042018-TWOP&utm_source=twitter_25082628&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=SMO_APR_MM_es_05042018-TWOP&utm_content=TW20180405002&utm_term=M8

This affects CM flights to Caracas, Maracaibo and Valencia, as well as Wingo's BOG-CCS.

SonOfABeech · Fri Apr 06, 2018 12:17 pm

Just when I was about to book with them to get out of this s**thole.. :bomb:

tommyarias · Fri Apr 06, 2018 9:02 pm

tommyarias wrote:
From Copa's website: (In Spanish)

Copa Airlines announces that the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ordered, by resolution published in Official Gazette No. 6369, on April 5, 2018, the suspension of the economic, commercial and financial relationship with subjects of the Republic of Panama, which includes the suspension of Copa Airlines flights to Venezuela for a period of 90 days extendable.

In order to provide assistance to passengers who have scheduled flights to and from Venezuela in the next 90 days, Copa Airlines offers the possibility of reimbursing the total value of their unused airline tickets without penalties. In the same way, passengers who have started their flight may reimburse the unused route without penalties.

https://www.copaair.com/en/web/gs/important-information-about-flights-venezuela-apr-18-release?d1=SMO_APR_MM_es_05042018-TWOP&utm_source=twitter_25082628&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=SMO_APR_MM_es_05042018-TWOP&utm_content=TW20180405002&utm_term=M8

This affects CM flights to Caracas, Maracaibo and Valencia, as well as Wingo's BOG-CCS.

I stand corrected, Wingo will not be affected as it is considered a Colombian airline (AeroRepública S.A.): https://twitter.com/wingo/status/982294361424588802

SJOtoLIR · Sat Apr 07, 2018 5:19 pm

The FIFA World Cup trophy tour is touching Central America: Panama City [April 06] and San Jose [April 07-08].
The aircraft transporting such trophy is leased from Titan Airways and has been painted in a special livery.
Type: Boeing 737-33A(QC).
Registed as G-POWC.

Regards.

2travel2know2 · Mon Apr 09, 2018 2:03 am

Rumours in PTY indicate that perhaps CM will re-start PTY-CUC-PTY while its equipment isn't allowed to land in Venezuela.

Dieuwer · Mon Apr 09, 2018 6:30 pm

Why are there no Central American carriers at PVR? For instance, Copa does CUN but not PVR??

SJOtoLIR · Mon Apr 09, 2018 8:21 pm

Dieuwer wrote:
Why are there no Central American carriers at PVR?

Copa Airlines already studied Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit in 2013. Same with SJD.
You can find some press releases making a google exercise.
Probably they have an accurate answer for the lack of such services. In my view, few demand of passengers to sustain any CM PTY-PVR.
It should be noted that AeroMexico and AeroMexico Connect are supplying flights on behalf of both AV and CM, among other carriers from abroad.
CM canceled in 2016 their flights to Puebla and Villahermosa. They didn’t last too much.
They’d need to be cautious with their intended Mexican stations.

Regards.

LTU932 · Mon Apr 09, 2018 11:14 pm

Question: I remember reading that when AF goes year-round on CDG-SJO, that until November, they'd downgrade from a 77W to a 77E. On Flightradar24, I saw that today's flight was operated by a 77W. Now, I'm not complaining, I love it when we have more big aircraft at SJO, but did AF decide to continue flying the 77W year-round to SJO or are there other operational reasons for that.

SJOtoLIR · Tue Apr 10, 2018 3:06 am

SJOtoLIR wrote:
AeroMexico and AeroMexico Connect are supplying flights on behalf of both AV and CM.

I meant:
AM/5D [MEX-PVR]: operating.
CM MEX-PVR and AV MEX-PVR: code-sharing.

SJOtoLIR · Tue Apr 10, 2018 3:25 am

LTU932 wrote:
AF goes year-round on CDG-SJO, that until November, they'd downgrade from a 77W to a 77E.

Sequence of official announcements on AF CDG-SJO:

Air France in Northern winter 2018/19 season is expanding service to Costa Rica, with the addition of 4th weekly Paris CDG – San Jose flight. Operated by 3-class 777-200ER, the 4th weekly service will be operating on Wednesdays, from 31OCT18.

AF430 CDG1350 – 1830SJO 772 3
AF430 CDG1350 – 1830SJO 77W 146

AF431 SJO2245 – 1620+1CDG 772 3
AF431 SJO2245 – 1620+1CDG 77W 146

Edited on February 22, 2018.

Paris CDG – San Jose (Costa Rica) Service extends to year-round, with following operation:
26MAR18 – 30APR18 3 weekly 777-300ER
01MAY18 – 24OCT18 2 weekly 777-200ER

Edited on October 26, 2017.

Skyteam member Air France in recent schedule update has converted planned Paris CDG – San Jose (Costa Rica) operation, previously scheduled as Winter seasonal flight. Latest update sees the conversion to year-round service, switch to 777-200ER by May 2018.

Planned operation as follow.

26MAR18 – 30APR18 777-300ER (Day 146)
02MAY18 – 24OCT18 777-200ER (Day 37)

AF430 CDG1310 – 1650SJO 772 37
AF431 SJO1910 – 1345+1CDG 772 37

Edited on July 10, 2017.

Regards.

LTU932 · Tue Apr 10, 2018 8:58 am

Thank you. Now I get the big picture.

SJOtoLIR · Tue Apr 10, 2018 1:24 pm

CM Airlines from Honduras displays a bunch of local destinations: Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, Roatan, Puerto Lempira, Utila Island, Guanaja Island, Copan, Tela, Cabo Gracias a Dios, Choluteca and Trujillo.
Furthermore, it flies internationally to Guatemala City, Belize City and San Salvador Ilopango. Some code-share services may apply.
It’s the acronymus of Cielo Maya. Don’t confuse it with Copa Airlines.

Let L-410

Embraer EMB-110.

Regards.

yellowtail · Tue Apr 10, 2018 2:37 pm

Cielo Maya is also affectionately known as Copalito in some circles.

aer · Tue Apr 10, 2018 6:27 pm

I believe CM Airlines' large aircraft are leased from TAG Airlines. On another note, these two need better names.

SJOtoLIR · Tue Apr 10, 2018 6:41 pm

This aircraft is actually featuring their two commercial brands: CM Airlines and TAG.
Registered as TG-TAR in Guatemala.

Saab 340.

Regards.

SJOtoLIR · Thu Apr 12, 2018 3:10 pm

The source Wikipedia states that TAG from Guatemala will fly to Punta Cana as part of their future plans, in 2018.
The website of the airline is also displaying PUJ.

Regards.

Dieuwer · Thu Apr 12, 2018 4:50 pm

I have read some contradictory reports regarding airline ops and terminal use in GUA. Some sources claim there is a separate "domestic terminal" where TAG is departing from (to FRS) and some sources claim this is not the case and every airline is now housed in just one terminal ("international" or"main"). Reading the Wikipedia entry on GUA does not give me any insights either.
So what is it?

juanchito · Thu Apr 12, 2018 10:24 pm

Dieuwer wrote:
I have read some contradictory reports regarding airline ops and terminal use in GUA. Some sources claim there is a separate "domestic terminal" where TAG is departing from (to FRS) and some sources claim this is not the case and every airline is now housed in just one terminal ("international" or"main"). Reading the Wikipedia entry on GUA does not give me any insights either.
So what is it?

Dieuwer.
TAG Airlines is using the terminal for all of it's flights domestic and international. Local flights have some special gates below gate 3A and 3B. So TAG and Aviancal domestic flights leave from this place. There are no amenities, restaurants, nothing, just seats and bathrooms.

Juanchito

SJOtoLIR · Sat Apr 14, 2018 3:37 pm

The possible route on 5U GUA-PUJ should be flown on the ERJ-145. However, it's a long segment for that plane: more than three hours in a regional jet.
The 5U GUA-BZE 5x weekly sector is served on the ERJ-145.

Regards.

yellowtail · Sat Apr 14, 2018 3:55 pm

SJOtoLIR wrote:
The possible route on 5U GUA-PUJ should be flown on the ERJ-145. However, it's a long segment for that plane: more than three hours in a regional jet.
The 5U GUA-BZE 5x weekly sector is served on the ERJ-145.

Regards.

No it is not. It is on the EMB 110.

SJOtoLIR · Sat Apr 14, 2018 4:03 pm

yellowtail wrote:
No it is not. It is on the EMB 110.

So, the information displayed into the Wikipedia page on TAG is wrong.
Was it ever served on the ERJ-145 ?

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