Review of LATAM flight from Rosario to Sao Paulo in Economy

Hello everyone!
This is the first part of a series of reports from my last trip to Mexico this month. After a couple of years I had the chance to depart from my hometown airport instead of Buenos Aires. The other times, because of the destinations I chose there weren’t any quick connections, or the prices were extremely high. This time I found a great option leaving from Rosario, which was extremely comfortable. Last time I flew out from ROS was during the first week of operations of the route ROS-GRU on TAM (before LATAM era). This was the beginning of an exponential growth of international passengers leaving ROS.
The flights were:
- ROS-GRU with LATAM Airbus 321 YOU ARE HERE!
- GRU-MEX with LATAM Boeing 767-300
- MEX-CUN with Volaris Airbus 320
- CUN-MEX with Volaris Airbus 320
- MEX-GRU with LATAM Boeing 767-300
- GRU-ROS with LATAM Airbus 321
Let’s begin!
LA8131
Date: 28/05/18
Origin: Rosario – Islas Malvinas ROS
Destination: Sao Paulo – Guarulhos GRU
Dep: 18.20 (18.30 real)
Arr: 21.05 (21.05 aprox real)
On that day I arrived the airport like 2 hours before departures. My parents drove me. The day I landed back in Rosario, the transport authority launched a new express bus service connecting the airport, the bus station and city centre. A great option! During the ride I followed the plane on Flightradar24, it was coming from SCL (some days the route is GRU-ROS-SCL-ROS-GRU).
Entrance

Soon as I arrived I went to LATAM counters, there was a big line. It was moving very slow. There were only 3 agents registering passengers. I had already checked in through LATAM’s app 48 hours ago, but there was only one line for all the passengers. There was only one counter for status passengers and for those with special needs. Almost one hour later it was my turn. The agent asked me my final destination and dispatched my suitcase.

Departures hall

There was still some time left for my flight’s departure. I went to the upper floor; there is a corridor with big windows with great views to the platform. The platform was recently rebuilt and enlarged to host more aircrafts. Slowly the airport is being improved. Soon they will start building a new passenger terminal. From there you could see a LATAM Peru Airbus 320. A few minutes later I spotted the LATAM Airbus 321 (PT-MXM) landing from SCL. Then they announced that this flight had arrived and they asked LA8131 passengers to proceed to the gate.

I went to the ground floor to gate number 5. When you enter you pass through Airport Security Police (PSA) controls, and then through migrations. Once there you get to departures lounge. This area has a little tiny Duty Free shop, and a small cafeteria. This place is also being improved and enlarged. It was crowded, and too tight to hold the passengers of an A321. But I only stayed there less than 30 minutes.

At 17.45 they announced the boarding process. First Oneworld status passengers and those with special needs and little children. Then people with seats on the front part of the airplane, then people on the back part. The passengers were mostly people from Rosario, connecting in GRU to other cities, especially in North America and Europe. There were also some 4-5 Chilean passengers coming from SCL and continuing to GRU.

When the line was moving, the agents were controlling boarding passes and showed us the way to two busses. The way from the gate to the stairs to the airplane was like 150 meters. But safety is very important! Haha. Before the airport brought the busses, you just walked towards the airplane.

I boarded on the back door. I like this because you can see very well the aircraft!

My seat was 32F; thankfully the middle seat was empty.
Legroom

Reading material

At 18.30 we took off towards the north and then east. I had some nice views of my city’s lights.

Flight path

Aprox 45 minutes after takeoff, the FAs started serving the meal. It consisted of a cheese and ham sandwich, a bonbon (a tasty candy from Argentina made with peanut butter) and a drink (coffee, tea, soft drinks, water).

During the flight the entertainment system through wifi was available on LATAM Play app. It has a nice selection of films, TV series, music, documentaries, and more. My favorite part is the flight map. This plane doesn’t have USB plugs, so I preferred to enjoy the flight without using much this app.
At 20.30 we started turning around over Sao Paulo, and the captain announced we were about to land.

At 21.30 we landed punctually.

My seat row

The airplane was taken to the platform near Terminal 3 and we disembarked through stairs on the front door. We were taken by bus to the Terminal building. I could spot far away an Emirates Airbus 380 which is the only one that operates in South America on a regular basis. There I followes the way to connections…

Coming soon: GRU-MEX flight on LATAM Boeing 767-300