This trip is the support for publishing several photos from a 2007 trip to South America, which I hope are of interest to the FR readers. Unfortuntately I did not have my flight reporter hat at the time thus there is no cabin or catering shots..
My South America tour comprises of 8 sectors. The SYD to SCL flight stops over in AKL
A340-313X CC-CQE QF321 Apr-07 SYD/AKL 26C 429 LAN A340-313X CC-CQE QF321 Apr-07 AKL/SCL 26C 429 LAN 737-291 CC-CVG LA 344 Apr-07 SCL/CJC 6K 22743 LAN overland Calama - San Pedro de Atacama - Potosi - Sucre 727-264 CP-2462 5L 125 Apr-07 SRE/LPB 9F 22158 AEROSUR You are here! overland La Paz - Lake Titicaca - Cuzco A319-132 CC-CPM LP 020 Apr-07 CUZ/LIM 10K 2864 LAN PERU 767-316ER CC-CWF LA 531 Apr-07 LIM/SCL 27C 34626 LAN A340-313X CC-CQF QF322 Apr-07 SCL/AKL 26C 442 LAN A340-313X CC-CQF QF322 Apr-07 AKL/SYD 26C 442 LAN
This flight report focuses on the Sucre - La Paz flight operated by Aerosur, which has sadly ceaed operations in 2012. Some of the readers might recall some funky special livery of Aerosur 747-300 and 747-400, which the airline briefly operated between Santa Cruz De La Sierra and Madrid. Further information regarding Aerosur can be found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AeroSur Ironically that flight was not part of the intial itinerary and was caught at the last minute to save time on the itinerary.
Sucre is a magnificent provincial town squeezed between the Bolivian Altiplano and the Tropical plain of East Bolivia. It is actually the administrative capital of Bolivia. Despite its elevation of more than 2000 m above sea level, the climat is mild.
Sucre airport is not far from town, but it is a long and winding road that leads to it. It is nested on a plateau which dominates the city. It seems like a miracle that developers found an area flat enough to build a runway…Well actually the runway looks anything but flat. Taxis in Sucre come from another age and seem completely anachronic with steering wheel on the left side whether the car seems to be better suited for right handside driving…go figure!
The airport is very small and only basic services are provided. This is the view of the ramp. I can see my suitcases !
Our flight is operated by a 727-200 registrered CP-2462 which used to belong to Mexicana. Funny how tray table and some of the catering element were embedded with the mexicana logo. Boarding was very smooth with a great walk on the tarmac. See the rear boarding stairs…quite a unique feature of the 727-200
As often with small airport there is no taxiway. The runway is used as a taxiway and we turn around to line up. The terminal can be seen on the right handside just under the control tower.
Full trottles and blury picture as we say good bye to Sucre
View of Sucre
The mighty Andes and high Bolivian Peaks. It is only a short trip to La Paz, about 45 min.
La Paz Airport is situated in El Alto, at about 4000 m above sea level, which is challenging for aircraft operation. El Alto is situated on a plain which sits on top of the Canyon where La Paz is nested. It is quite an extraordinary and dramatic layout. View of the Huayina Potosi culminating at 6000m.
Flying over the airport before turning back and landing. View of Mt Illimani
Just before turning toward the apron, a great view of Mt Illimani (6400 m) which dominates the city of La Paz. And if you look closer there is 2 very old planes that look like DC3…
Downtown La Paz, looking toward the South and the southern end of the Canyon. Amazing city, a must see.
BONUS PICTURES:
Airshow on the AKL.SCL flight as we near the Chilean Coast
Accidentally special effects picture
Aconcagua, Argentina and The Andes highest peak (6960m) seen enroute from Santiago to Calama.
About to land in Calama. flying over the rugged and bare Atacama Desert. One of the most amazing airport location, which I would compare with Uluru (Ayers Rock)
Calama Airport
LAN 737-200 on the Calama Ramp
Volcano Licancabur, near San Pedro De Atacama
Laguna Verde, border Chile and Bolivia, near San Pedro De Atacama
Laguna Colorada, Sud Lipez, Bolivia
Salar De Uyuni, Bolivia
Isla del Sol, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia
Machu Picchu, Peru
Cuzco, Peru. Capital of the Inca Empire. Runway can be seen
Star Peru 737-200 with beautiful tail art work at Cuzco Airport
TACA Peru A320 at Cuzco Airport
Runway seen from our LAN A320 bound for Lima. Our initial flight had been so delayed due to fog in Lima that it was cancelled and we were rebooked onto the next flight.
Flying over Cuzco Airport on our way to Lima
Somewhere over Peru
Just about to land in Lima, we are actually very low and close to land, visibily is extremely low to say the least…
Barranco, Lima and the misty Pacific Ocean
See more
Verdict
AeroSur
5.9/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew8.0
Entertainment/wifi3.0
Meal/catering5.5
Sucre - SRE
5.0/10
Efficiency5.0
Access8.0
Services2.0
Cleanliness5.0
La Paz - LPB
5.0/10
Efficiency5.0
Access5.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness5.0
Conclusion
A very exotic trip to say the least. Everything went very well from a flight point of view, except the delay in Cuzco due to fog in Lima. But the delay was handled pretty well and most passengers were re-booked onto the next flight. Aerosur offered very basic service, and I can't really remember what the catering was like. Such a short flight anyway. Other flights were really good, LAN and LAN Peru are very reliable and offer a very decent service.
4 LIKESLIKE TO THANK THE AUTHORTHANKS ! FLIGHT-REPORT LIKED
Thank you. My pleasure. Well, YOU MUST WRITE A FT THEN! looking forward to it. And take plenty of photos. Apparently Amaszonas have come to BQB (Uruguay) rescue recently. Give us the latest gossips. Will you be doing some other flying in South America (assuming you would have to get to LPB or get out of SRE by air ?)
Hi ! Thanks for sharing this retro report :) You're the second one publishing a report on this aircraft's type : Congrats ! This kind of flight is really appreciable for an aircraft lover. Your pictures are beautiful and the bonus too. South America is the continent for old aircrafts spotters !
Oops I will never forgive myself...thanks for the correction. Another amazing color scheme by the way....Shame they made a mess with the combined TACA/AVIANCA livery....
It doesn't get much more exotic than this. A flight report on a rarely seen 727 (these days anyway) on a mever-reported now defunct airline from a never-reported airport! Too bad there are no pics of the interior. Would have been interesting to see what this old bird looked like on the inside. Thanks for sharing!
I remember 727s used to be everywhere around in Latin America when I was a kid. It was great and with different airlines, nowadays it's all basically Airbus either in blue (LAN) or red (Avianca) with the oddball Copa, AeroMexico and TAM.
The trip you took looks awesome, Bolivia is a very exotic country and very underrated, some say it's the most beautiful country in South America.
Thank you Chibcha, completely agree. Bolivia is the most amazing country I have seen so far. Hope it stays that way, not spoiled by tourism too much, and lithium greedy industries...
Not a "humble" report at all, flywunala! Fantastic photography and rare sights of those old lan 737-200. How I wold like to fly on one of those again! I was in La Paz years ago. What a beautiful capital city! Worth visiting again. I have heard that El Alto airport has been modernized. Would like to see what it looks like now.
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17 Comments
I'll be flying La Paz - Sucre with Amaszonas this summer (sadly no 727) :(
Thanks for sharing this retro report :)
You're the second one publishing a report on this aircraft's type : Congrats !
This kind of flight is really appreciable for an aircraft lover.
Your pictures are beautiful and the bonus too.
South America is the continent for old aircrafts spotters !
See you :)
Great shot of the 727 and beautiful bonus.
I remember 727s used to be everywhere around in Latin America when I was a kid. It was great and with different airlines, nowadays it's all basically Airbus either in blue (LAN) or red (Avianca) with the oddball Copa, AeroMexico and TAM.
The trip you took looks awesome, Bolivia is a very exotic country and very underrated, some say it's the most beautiful country in South America.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing!
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