It’s been quite some time. My last trip report was about flights taken almost three years ago and my last actual flights were two years ago (no report). Tickets for a trip to Germany and for a side trip from there to Spain had been secured in early 2020 for April – and then came the pandemic.
Though we are all still living with it, air travel to the US from Latin America and within the US has recovered at a swifter pace than in Europe. The originally envisioned trip to Europe has been put on hold but the travel bug was itching badly, so a quick flying fix in the form of a trip to MIA was arranged.
If you follow several threads on the Civil Aviation and Non-Aviation forums on this site, for different reasons South Florida doesn’t seem to be held in very high regard these days among people from other parts of the US. For many Latin Americans though Miami is the unofficial capital of the subcontinent where everything converges. There is a populous Venezuelan community in SoFlo and demand for flights between the two has never subsided.
Over the years many airlines have plied the skies along airway A315/UA315 between Caracas (and a couple of other cities in Venezuela) and Miami, not all of them in the same timeframe though:
Apologies if I missed any airline(s).
Flying between CCS and MIA used to be a non-event. There were lots of daily nonstop flights to choose from at different times of the day, all taking about 2:50 hours. At its peak AA alone had 5 daily rotations to CCS plus one each to VLN (iirc) and MAR.
The times when the governments of both nations got along well are over and relations are now frosty at best. This, along with other contributing factors, resulted in the withdrawal of all US airlines from the Venezuelan market and even the prohibition of direct (non-stop or not) flights between the two countries. The Venezuelan government in turn currently only authorizes flights to a handful of foreign destinations: CUN, IST, MAO, PTY, PUJ, SDQ, SVO and VVI, so all traffic to the US is funneled mainly through Cancun, Panama City and Santo Domingo. On top of that, through tickets are not allowed either, so even if one were to fly CCS-PTY-MIA and return on Copa Airlines, two tickets need to be issued, one for CCS-PTY-CCS and one for PTY-MIA-PTY…
The only routes that really made sense were the three shortest:
Maps by GreatCircle Mapper – copyright © Karl L. Swartz
My choice was to go with Venezuelan carrier LASER Airlines (Línea Aérea de Servicio Ejecutivo Regional), mainly because it was the shortest and less expensive route but also because it offers the most interesting aircraft: the CCS-SDQ sector on one of Laser’s DC-9-82’s and the connecting flight to MIA on a B734 of iAero Airways / Swift Air.
The flight
I had been strongly advised, begged even, to be at the airport four hours before scheduled departure. For a 9 a.m. flight this meant getting up at 3:30-ish to allow for a decent shower and breakfast, and leaving home shortly after 4:00. With the reduced number of operating flights this sounded crazy to me, but I obliged anyway and in hindsight it was absolutely necessary.
Today’s flights, all of them – and a big chunk of tomorrows flights as well:
Although the location column in the display shows “Procedencia/From”, this is actually the departures board, hanging right above the entrance to the check-in area.
I joined the first of many queues that day at 5:00 a.m. and was finally done with check-in an hour and twenty minutes later. I was told that my carry-on, which conforms in size to international hand luggage standards, had to be checked “because today’s flight is on a smaller plane and it won’t fit in the overhead bin”. Another novelty experienced on this trip was that the X-ray machine for the checked baggage is right behind the check-in desks, at the beginning of the conveyor belt that transports the bags to the bowels of the terminal downstairs. Passengers were asked to remain near the X-ray machine until their checked bags had been scanned and found ok. Otherwise they’d be required to witness a secondary inspection right there.
With my bag cleared I immediately proceeded to join the next queue. Getting through the security check and passport control took another hour and a half. No wonder, as only one of four check lines was actually operative.
I enquired with one of the National Guard officers about why there was only one operative line as this was delaying the process a lot. Never to be at a loss for an excuse she replied that they had to process ten flights that day (!) and that they were understaffed due to Covid-19.
Three hours after arriving at the airport I had finally made it airside, where most shops were still closed. Though operations have resumed, the departures concourse gave a spooky impression. Not even the (Burger) King is granting audience. Thankfully I had had a bite before leaving home.
Boarding time according to the BP was 7:00 a.m., a full two hours before departure, but given the slow handling of check-in and security control, this was absolutely utopian. Anyway, with less than an hour to go until scheduled departure, boarding would soon be called and there wasn’t much time to mill around – or much to see.
A first glance at the plane waiting at the gate:
Here’s a picture of the plane from the A.net database in Laser’s former livery:
It was delivered new to AA in 1988 and served with American as N458AA for 25 years before being transferred to Laser Airlines in 2013.
June 2021
Airline: LASER
Flight: QL9962
STD/ATD: 09:00 / 09:00 (push back)
STA/ATA: 10:45 / 10:25 (touch down)
Route: CCS-SDQ
Registration: YV2923
Aircraft: McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82 (MD-82)
Seat: 26A
After calling the J passengers and people requiring assistance, families with children and status holders, boarding of the Y cabin was done from the back towards the front. One advantage of older planes is that there is a fair chance of getting an old fashioned seat with proper padding and not one of the harder slim line seats favored nowadays.
The leg room is also generous:
Some cabin features:
The cabin during boarding. The flight went out with a full pax load and not a single vacant seat. There seemed to be enough passengers with carry-ons small enough for the overhead bins. I’m pretty sure mine would have fit in there as well:
Maybe next time I could turn my attention to that gate neighbor barely visible through the rain dripping down the window:
Push back was exactly on time and after a short taxi we took off from rwy 10 at 9:10. My seat in the row immediately ahead of the rear service door was close enough to the engines to once again get a sense of the “Mad Dog sound”, though this time the engines seemed to be pretty well synchronized as I perceived their sound more like the hum of a turbo-prop.
On a relatively short flight like this the non-reclining seat didn’t pose an inconvenience. There was no on-board magazine, so let’s get familiar with the safety instructions:
Service consisted of just a beverage. A choice of Coke or water was offered.
Unfortunately the scratchy and dirty windows weren’t very conducive to outside photography. Cruising above the Caribbean:
Fifty five minutes into the flight was already top of descent and twenty minutes later we were landing on rwy 35 at SDQ:
Once docked at the gate, deplaning was done in a strictly enforced orderly manner. Passengers were to get off the plane from the front to the back of the cabin, three rows at a time. All other pax were constantly reminded to remain seated.
The terminal in SDQ was much livelier than the one back at CCS and there were also many more flights, at this time of the day most of them to the US.
The layover of roughly 2:30 h in SDQ may sound ample, but the time was filled with standing in line for further security and document checks, as well as the handout of new boarding passes at the gate, today located at the opposite end of the terminal from the one were the Laser flight parked. The plane for the onward flight to MIA was already there.
This frame was delivered new to Asiana Airlines in South Korea in 1996, was passed on to Air Busan in 2010 and finally wound up at Swift Air in 2017.
The same plane in its former Swift Air livery:
And a picture of a sister ship for better viewing of the rather nondescript current livery:
June 2021
Airline: iAero Airways dba Swift Air
Flight: WQ201
STD/ATD: 12:55 / 13:05 (push back)
STA/ATA: 15:13 / 15:10 (touch down)
Route: SDQ-MIA
Registration: N538CC
Aircraft: B737-48E
Seat: 21F
Boarding of the Y cabin was again called by row groups from back to front and the seats were definitely comfier than what you get in Euro J these days, though the legroom was somewhat tighter than on the previous segment’s MD-82:
The flight went out nearly full; from what I could see the only vacant seat turned out to be the middle seat next to me.
More classic features/fixtures:
Take-off was from rwy 17 at 13:15 and after a lazy right turn we were on course, first traversing the Dominican countryside and later overflying the Bahamas.
A weird semi-circular cloud formation and lots of cotton candy in the sky:
Service on this 2:05 h segment consisted of a choice of beverages (soft drink, juice or water), and passengers were handed the whole can/bottle. While overflying the ocean, an Ocean Spray branded juice seemed appropriate.
The Bahamas kept providing fascinating views:
At 2:40 p.m. we started our descent towards MIA, where we landed on rwy 09R at 3:10 p.m. and parked at Concourse E’s gate E33. If memory serves me right, this used to be the gate where the daily LH flight 462/463 from/to FRA docked at back in the days of the DC-10-30.
Although I read somewhere that MIA is back to around 90% of its pre-pandemic traffic levels, it certainly seemed less busy than usual to me. The queue at passport control took only an hour (a new speed record) and the CBP officer was actually very nice.
Total travel time door to door: 14:30 hours, with a net flight time of ~3:30 hours…
The return flights to CCS a week later were on the exact same frames so there is no point in keeping you from whatever you were doing with a write-up on those. Besides, my return coincided with the days when the wind blew sand from the Sahara all the way to the Caribbean, so there were no pretty sights to be had.
Departure was again from Concourse E and, having gained enough knowledge about the service situation on board during these flights, I made sure to grab a sandwich in the terminal for a proper in-flight breakfast.
Compare the cabin service described on the sectors flown on this trip to the offerings on a MIA-CCS flight I took in October 1990 on an Avensa B757, in Y, as per this printed multi-page menu:
Anyways, I think I’m getting a taste for these classics and should probably try to get on a few more of them before they all become beer or soda cans.
Copyright © K-tel Intl. 1981
Let’s see where this leads.
Cheers,
C.
Previous trip reports:
Ze ‘Zee’ route – Pt. II: IST-HAV-CCS
Ze ‘Zee’ route from Djörmany to Caracas – Pt. I: HAM-IST
TAP Portugal feat. EuroAtlantic Airways: CCS-CUR-LIS-HAM, or …
A blast from the past: DC-10-30 – When VA was still VIASA…
Checkin’ on Robinson and Friday – on a Wednesday: Aerocardal
TAP. Why not? CCS-LIS-HAM vv + LAN 787-9 interlude
#4: Eldorado by day: AV B787/A321 SCL-BOG-CCS Y
#3: Twotters & a narrow gauge train in Patagonia
#2: “The LAN guy” gives Sky a try: H2 SCL-PMC-SCL
#1: Eldorado by night: AV A321/B787 CCS-BOG-SCL J
Joining the Club - 20 years late: AA LAX-MIA
Venturing beyond: AS SEA-LAX
Sleepless in Seattle: In the Beaver’s lair
HAM-CCS:The first LH and a ride in J - sort of
Chasing Zulu: 4U HAM.LHR-HAM
Moving on: LH ZRH-FRA-HAM
LH CCS-ZRH: Flashbacks along airway UA550
Deep Chile II: Ham, monkeypuzzle trees & a culprit
Deep Chile I: To the hut with the power outlet
Return from Mt. Pleasant – Not so pleasant: LAN
Island-hopping on, well, an Islander: FIGAS
LAN wishes you a pleasant flight to Mt. Pleasant
Another day, another Lufty – HAM-FRA-CCS
Off to Oman 4: Return MCT-FRA WY A330
Off to Oman 3: Of spices, dhows and frankincense
Off to Oman 2: ICE in F and WY in Y
Off to Oman 1: Positioning commute LH CCS-FRA.HAM
LANning back up again: PUQ.PMC-SCL-LIM-CCS
LANning down South America’s backbone: CCS-PUQ
South, farther south, southernmost! PUQ-WPU on DAP
