Review of Sky Airline flight from Santiago to Valdivia in Economy

"Smile at the rain. Have a nice trip."
That's the message you read as you disembark at Pichoy (ZAL), Valdivia's small airport.
Someone with remarkable artistic skills (and the correct attitude) posted this on the jetway wall to remind passengers that even a time of year as dull as winter in the south of Chile can be filled with enjoyable experiences.

I'll do well to keep that message in mind and smile. This flight is taking me home after my winter holidays. The second school term starts tomorrow.
It's time to get…

Back to the grind

This is the last of eight legs in this trip. You can also read the reports for legs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

I usually stay with family in Santiago. They live quite far from the airport. I used to have problems finding a shared transfer service willing to pick me up. That's solved thanks to online booking now. Transvip, for example, charges 8,000 CLP (12.5 USD) for the ride across the city. I booked a shared service, but no one else had booked this time, so I travelled alone!

Sky Airline's sign is very reassuring. I used to think that my English was bad… until I saw this! :) I don't think easy-goiing is the word they were looking for, either.

With new airlines and a war of LCCs unfolding in the last years, queues are getting longer and longer at SCL. Local airlines are concerned about a lack of infrastructure at SCL.

This is what an LCC boarding pass looks like. XD

The new Starbucks at the end of the domestic flights wing is ten times bigger than the old one. They are announcing a new Honey Latte. That’s precisely what I need!

Along with a muffin. :3

BrittShop.

I’m so familiar with this corner on the third floor that I think I will reclaim ownership. This is where I boarded my flights to Copiapó and to Buenos Aires this winter, and now I’ll be leaving to Valdivia from here!

My door will be 20B. Small world. I meet a colleague and her young grandchildren.

Boarding

Boarding starts timely and orderly.

CC-AID keeps Sky Airline’s old colors. Sky’s fleet is not large, but they have taken quite long to repaint their aircraft after they renewed their corporate image.

I read somewhere that they are planning to add newer aircraft. Will this mean that they will get rid of some of the old ones, like this one?

Pitch. Not bad for an LCC, I think.

There’s something funny here. No. I’m not talking about my chubby fingers. Look at that tray table. It looks as if it was loose….

And it IS loose at the hinges!

This won’t hold a hot coffee safely… and I wouldn’t place one here, either. Ew! What a pigsty!

Backseat pocket content.

An article about Puyehue National Park, close to my home. I’m very interested in fungi. Did you know they are not plants? They have a kingdom of their own. If you’re interested in the topic, here’s a book about Chilean fungi that you can legally download for free. Below, meet heterotextus alpinus.

A place to visit before this planet dies. Hurry up.

The simplest of armrests.

On my right, a beautiful sight. No one fighting to take over my vital space.

Come, dear. You are completely mine.

The flight

Pushback.

Poor guys. It's certainly a cold day to work outdoors.

Oh là là!

Ville candidate Jeux Olympiques de 2024 special livery.

The assortment of tails is not particularly impressiive this Sunday morning.

Laugh if you will, LATAM. But that little guy over there might soon be making your life miserable. LAW is slowly taking flight. New aircraft and routes (domestic and international) are coming soon.

It’s like the Captain is in a hurry today…

…because we have barely reached the head of the runway…

…when we are racing at full speed…

…as if the police were chasing us.

This is the entire terminal building so far, in the shape of an L. The far end of the vertical stroke of the L is for domestic flights, and the rest (in the foreground) is mostly for international flights.

The new boarding rooms for international flights are taking shape. The main international hall will be there, in the middle. The current L-shaped terminal will be completely dedicated to domestic flights.

You might find this video interesting. It's a virtual model of the future SCL.

Santiago is barely visible, as usual.

We quickly reach the menacing clouds…

…and emerge to a beautiful blue sky above them. This always reminds me of Trinity, from The Matrix, when she sees the sun for the first time… moments before she crash-lands and dies. :'''(

What a good movie!

We quickly reach the menacing clouds… Oh! Deja vu! A glitch in the matrix! It happens when they change something! XDDD

I don't usually sit above the engine. Isn't it an impressive thing to watch?

"Phone Jack"?!

I can't phone Jack. We have no signal up here! XDD

"Do not enter." I wouldn't.

Inside the cabin the atmosphere is very quiet. Many must be sleepy after getting up early on a Sunday morning.

Sky Airline still boasts its 2016 SkyTrax Best South American Airline award.

Behind me. Not precisely a crush load.

It’s cloudy most of the road.

The clouds only break…

…somewhere near Temuco…

…a couple hundred kilometers north of home.

There are hundreds of valleys and corners…

…of indescribable beauty down there.

Eventually, we bank to the right, towards the coast…

…and fly above the fields…

…and pine plantations around Valdivia.

I don't call them forests. Forests are much more complex entities. These are just plantations, harvested at regular intervals.

This is the time of year…

…when the sky is not completely cloudy…

…but even the tiniest, most innocent-looking cloud…

…can pour a shower on you.

Gee! It only gets worse!

About to land.

This must be San José.

And…

…my holidays come officially to an end.

I hope we will use a jetway this time!

Whoa! We keep going! Where's the fire, captain?

Thrust reversers.

End of the runway.

ILS. The road to Valdivia is behind those trees.

A soaked Valdivian. An endangered species because of global warming.

Jetway, thank goodness!

Some technical details of this flight.

Back home

Walking along the ramp is when I find…

…the surprise I mentioned at the beginning. Isn't it a nice detail? Someone must be fed up with the passengers' rudeness and angry looks.

A former EasyJet aircraft…

…13-year-old CC-AID has been in Sky Airline since 2005.

This walkway along the back of the terminal, above boarding room, is fantastic!

It has a great view on the apron.

Baggage claim is very fast. In a matter of minutes I'm sitting in the transfer van…

…with the ticket I bought inside the terminal. 4000 CLP = 6 USD

Let's hurry home now that th rain has stopped for a while.

This announcement from 2013 that was never removed shows what ZAL looks like.

The ILS from the road.

And that's how this (for me) epic two-week, eight-leg…

…five-airport, two-country journey has come to an end.

Would I repeat it? By all means!!

But for now I'm happy…

…to be welcomed home by peaceful river Calle Calle.

One of my most cherished memories of this trip, my bike ride around Montevideo (leg 6) is perfect to say: Nos vemos!! (See you!!)