Welcome to my flight report on TACA, Now Avianca's YYZ-SAL-SJO route. The route was operated by an A320 aircraft. To my surprise, the service was better than most western carriers as the airline offered a full meal service and complimentary drinks. As this was an onward flight, once arriving at SAL's hub airport, most passengers connected either to San Jose, Costa Rica, or onto other destinations within Latin America. After TACA's merger, Avianca became Central America's largest airline. Now their strong presence was evident all throughout the San Salvador. I hope you enjoy the read.
Avianca's checkin was pretty light was we arrived about 2.5 hours prior to the flight. The handling crew were pretty nice and able to help whenever needed.
The T1 security lines were pretty light and warranted a hassle free entry to the departure lounge area
As there was about 100 minutes before departure, I did some spotting. Here is EK242 prepping for their DXB departure
AC 789 and AU 763 departing to ICN and VIE respectively
Rouge 763 and AC 77W departing to POS and ZRH respectively
Some views from YYZ terminal. Compared to many, YYZ's terminal is quite nice as it offers premium shops and great food
AV627 was ready for boarding.Today's aircraft was the only A320 in the fleet left with the TACA paint scheme and TACA interior
In flight
Boarding was quite slow as passengers took their cool time finding their seats.
Lovely quality blankets were found in each seat. A great amenity
Seat space in the bulk head seat was good and allowed easy mobility.Unfortunately, a passenger behind found it fit to place their feet under my chair
Views from the seat
Upwind RWY 23
At cruise, the skies cleared up as flew over the USA
The meal service commenced. The meal was quite good and was paired with a rum and coke
Cabin after meal service
As Hurricane Mike made its way over the gulf, the aircraft slightly deviated to avoid the weather
Sunset as we flew over the Yucatan Peninsula
Dusk passed and night time fell. The crew began preparations for landing as we neared SAL.
The approach was quite interesting and we made various banks over the hills of El Salvador.
Arrival
As we exited the runway, we were parked at the gate momentarily
Connecting flights from SAL
Migracion was light as we arrived before the other USA flights
Route map
See more
Verdict
Avianca
8.0/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew10.0
Entertainment/wifi8.0
Meal/catering7.0
Toronto - YYZ
8.0/10
Efficiency7.0
Access8.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness9.0
San Salvador - SAL
7.8/10
Efficiency7.0
Access7.0
Services8.5
Cleanliness8.5
Conclusion
Avianca's service was far more than I initially expected and I was happy with my experience. Moreover San Salvador's airport is ideal for connection as the layout is user friendly. It was a pleasure to fly on one of the last remaining TACA aircraft in the fleet. Without a doubt I would be flying AV in the near future. Stay tuned for my return leg; SAL-YYZ.
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Ahhh… I do miss the much more modern and attractive T1 at Pearson. Oh well. I’m happy enough slumming it out of T3, where I can arrive an hour departure and still get 15 minutes at the Plaza Premium before boarding begins.
Interesting that your plane was still in the TACA colours. I kinda hope it was a retrojet, and not a plane that hasn’t been painted in a decade. But I suppose you never know.
Glad the meal was enjoyable. It doesn’t make a great visual impression, though.
A shame there’s no seatback IFE on this relatively long route. At least there was some booze on offer.
Great shot of the engine in the sunset!
Looking forward to seeing the flipside of this trip. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! Yes I also found it interesting that they're still TACA painted aircraft, I believe there is also an A321 in the scheme. T1 is a great terminal to use when flying in or out of YYZ. By the way, the flip side of my trip has just been posted. Have a read! :)
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2 Comments
Ahhh… I do miss the much more modern and attractive T1 at Pearson. Oh well. I’m happy enough slumming it out of T3, where I can arrive an hour departure and still get 15 minutes at the Plaza Premium before boarding begins.
Interesting that your plane was still in the TACA colours. I kinda hope it was a retrojet, and not a plane that hasn’t been painted in a decade. But I suppose you never know.
Glad the meal was enjoyable. It doesn’t make a great visual impression, though.
A shame there’s no seatback IFE on this relatively long route. At least there was some booze on offer.
Great shot of the engine in the sunset!
Looking forward to seeing the flipside of this trip. Thanks for sharing!
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