Two cities that have nothing to do with each other - Valdivia and Montevideo - happen to be incredibly well connected.
I left my home this afternoon (previous report), arrived at SCL after a comfortable 1-hour flight, and now I'm making my way from domestic arrivals to international departures. My next flight leaves in less than three hours.
At the time of this flight SCL's terminal consists of a relatively small L-shaped building. The domestic flights area is at the end of the long stroke of the L, and the access to international departures is where both strokes meet.
So there's no need for buses, trains, nothing. Just a nice stroll from domestic arrivals…
…along the first (ground) floor hall…
…then the elevator to the third floor, and voilà! September 18 is our national day. That's why the message "Felices fiestas patrias" is plastered all around. Some foreigners get sort of shocked at such display of "nationalism". I was in Argentina on July 9, their national day, and nobody seemed to be in the mood for celebrations!
Going airside
I enter the police check area at 18:38. The queue is quite long, but one good thing about SCL is that lots of booths are open…
…so I clear police check quickly…
…and make it to security check at 18:48. Ten minutes!
I'm airside at 18:50.
I have to follow that lady pulling the red bag through the narrow corridors of the duty free.
So Montevideo is just a stop on the way to Córdoba, Argentina?! That's crazy! It's like taking a flight from Madrid to Paris… via Moscow!! gate 10. Hm. That's at the end of the short stroke of the L. I'll have to walk a little.
But being so early, I have enough time for a little project - I'll leave a photographic register of what SCL looks like from gate 20A, usually shared with the domestic area…
…all the way to the international end of the L.
Besides, I'm getting hungry…
…and the cheapest shop at the airport is at the far end.
Felices fiestas patrias!
I will never find a soda for less than 3 USD in one of these shops…
…but at the bend of the L…
…is what I'm looking for.
No, it's not that cafeteria.
It's the vending machine! The only place with sodas at 1000 CLP! (1.5 USD)
And now my sandwich.
Oh. We're in the middle of the long stroke of the L. My sandwich is at the far left (escalators)
This end looks much more active. Most international flights leave in the evening, it seems.
My gate (10) is on the right, but my sandwich is on the left…
…down the escalators…
…on the first floor…
…at this Maxi K. :)
Hee hee hee. I knew it…
…because I was here for my last flight to Buenos Aires. Sandwiches here are half the price than anywhere else in the airport.
Great! I even have some minutes to relax and read a little. The only thing I have to do now is take the escalator back to gate 10 when the time for boarding comes, and…
AAAAAAAAARRRGGGGHHHHHHHH…..!! ALL THE FREAKING WAY BACK TO GATE 22??? And it's 20:25. Boarding time! RUN!!!!
This is where I started my "photographic project"!! >:(
>
Boarding is being called as I stop sweating and panting.
CC-AHD is already waiting.
So the punctuality awards from my previous report were true!
A long ramp takes us down from the third to the second floor to access…
…the jetbridge.
The product is exactly the same for domestic and international routes…
…but I have the impression that legroom is a bit better in this row.
Tray table a bit dirty at this time of day.
Seatback pocket contents - the same as in this afternoon's flight.
Night has fallen long ago.
Make an estimation of the passenger load if you're good with numbers.
The Flight
Pushback at 21:07. Three minutes in advance!
With a cellphone and a lousy camera…
…I won't be able to take good pictures in the dark.
Santiago is a handsome city at night, though not necessarily from the air.
We are heading south. We'll cross the Andes some 50km south of Santiago.
The Ruta 5 Sur (aka Panamerican Highway) runs (almost) all along the country.
Turning east above Paine. Not the Paine Towers, but a little town locally famous for its large watermelons. When a man has a big belly, his friends will usually ask if he is carrying a sandía de Paine with him.
Acceso Sur, another access to the south area of Santiago.
Nobody is allowed to stand up or use the restrooms while crossing the Andes - which takes about 10 or 15 minutes - but the FAs get ready for the BOB as soon as we are flying above the Argentine pampas.
I still have my vending machine soda - sin azúcar in order to compensate for the calories in the sandwich I'm ordering. :D
This kind of bread is called marraqueta. Very popular in Chile. It's also called pan batido, or pan francés in different areas of the country.
No matter the name, it always very crunchy and has this shape that lets you divide it into four pieces.
The filling is carne (meat, in this case beef), and queso (cheese) Yummy. Come with daddy. :D
I'm enjoying my sandwich. Unfortunately, my neighbors in 4B and 4C are not. They are a mature couple and they're having a bit of a quarrel with the FA about their order. In the end, they seem to realize that they were wrong, but they blame it on the menu, saying that it's misleading! Meanwhile, we are flying above a town called Lincoln. Yes, after the president! It's inhabitants are called linqueños.
120km from Buenos Aires is Chivilcoy. Are they trying to send some kind of message into space??
Few minutes later we see the lights of Buenos Aires.
I'm a little confused at first because I found the flight very short.
I wonder if we flew towards Córdoba or Rosario, which are closer to the Andes. But no.
As the Río de la Plata comes into sight, it's clear that we are above Buenos Aires.
There's the wide 9 de Julio Avenue, and the fog coming from the river. I can even see the streets where I walked around the Obelisco in my last visit. And I suddenly feel sad because Rayita is down there and I don't know when I'll see her agan. :( She was the sweetest thing I met in Buenos Aires. She must be sleeping now, as she did most of the time. She slept with me every night…
…she talked to me in her language, and she thought I was her kitten.
Across from Buenos Aires, on the opposite shore of the Río de la Plata, lies Colonia del Sacramento. Its name says it all: It's characterized by its colonial architecture. A very beautiful town. I'll be visiting it during this trip.
The lights of western Montevideo come into view.
But I picked the wrong side of the plane again. We cross the city and turn around towards the left, so I miss the center of the city… again. >:(
We descend westward…
…above the Carrasco area.
>
And here's MVD and its futuristic architecture.
Looks like taken from the Jetsons! :D
Adding insult to injury, the windows get fogged…
>
…and the lights don't help.
>
We've made it.
>
MVD
Carrasco (aka MVD)…
…is a cute small airport…
…and you'll never have to walk much.
A last sight of CC-AHD on the tarmac.
As soon as you arrive…
…you can cover almost the whole airport in a glance!
>
At this time of day…
…we seem to be the only ones going through migrations…
…which is fantastic…
…because in ten minutes…
…we are landside.
You might need some money for the bus or the taxi.
A last step before being left in the wild, scanning your bags. Never as tough as in Chile, though.
Another chance to channge money.
The main hall.
The exit is over there, behind the escalator, and taxis are waiting right outside. There's also a bus stop, and buses come every 30 minutes during the night. The ticket is about 60 UYU.
Thanks for reading!
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Verdict
Sky Airline
8.0/10
Cabin8.0
Cabin crew10.0
Entertainment/wifi6.0
Meal/catering8.0
Santiago - SCL
9.8/10
Efficiency10.0
Access9.0
Services10.0
Cleanliness10.0
Montevideo - MVD
9.5/10
Efficiency10.0
Access9.0
Services9.0
Cleanliness10.0
Conclusion
After flying a similar route with Aerolíneas Argentinas, I can say that Sky Airline does the job with great quality of service for a cheaper price. No snack box as in AR, but the hot sandwiches in their fair-priced BOB are much better!!
6 LIKESLIKE TO THANK THE AUTHORTHANKS ! FLIGHT-REPORT LIKED
The first destination once airside appears to be Cashiers (North Carolina), known in Chile as Cajas ;)
"It's like taking a flight from Madrid to Paris… via Moscow!" - Or rather like the twice weekly flight from Charleroi to Brest... via Toulon. It is the astute combination of the demands for flights from Belgium to the Riviera (CRL-TLN), and for flights between the two largest French Navy bases (TLN - BES).
I take good note of THE vending machine in SCL... and of that well-hidden Maxi K Store (An airside sandwich at 1500 CLP is hard to beat !)
Keep seat belts fastened while crossing the Andes : is it a local regulation (due to frequent turbulences / bad weather) ?
This pan looks a lot more Chilean than francés to me ;) It looks good, though !
Identifying a city at night from the pattern street lights is a difficult task, but Chivilcoy decided to help you. Nice picture !
Haha, you really fooled me when describing your relationship with Rayita ! (Mrs. Marathon was wiser and guessed the solution ;)
"As soon as you arrive, you can cover almost the whole airport in a glance" - Interesting how we now equate an airport with its duty-free shopping area ;)
Foreign exchange counters, but I guess there are ATMs too ?
The first destination once airside appears to be Cashiers
And I wonder if the Peruvian town of Cajamarca should be translated "cashiermark". XD
I find the words "cashier desks" quite weird. I wonder if "checkout" is more commonly used. And yes, "checkout" would be "caja" in Spanish. They guy who works there is the "cajero".
is it a local regulation (due to frequent turbulences / bad weather) ?
Must be. Every time we cross the Andes we hear the same letany: Por disposición de la autoridad aeronáutica, todos los pasajeros deben permancer sentados y con los cinturones abrochados blah blah blah. I've almost learned it by heart. And they mean it. Even if you leave your seat for some seconds to find something in the luggage bin, you'll be pestered over the PA until you sit down again.
Interesting how we now equate an airport with its duty-free shopping area
But if you look carefully, there's also a little window through which you can see baggage claim! That would be about half the airport! :D
I guess there are ATMs too ?
There must be, but I didn't see them at the time. :(
Gracias for the Padahuel's cheap places report, I will use it (though I was near seizure when I thought it could be Ruby Tuesday... From my reading, this flight is now sentenced to death!
Sí, lo leí en desdescl.com. Esta ruta se acaba en abril. :'( Es que con esos horarios tan tarde! El de regreso era después d elas 11 de la noche, llegando como a las 2 de la mañana! Una lástima, porque solamente queda latam con vuelos directos a MVD. Seguro que ahora van a cobrar lo que se les ocurra. >:( Ojalá que JetSmart venga al rescate!!
Hi Nechus, thanks for another interesting report. "Nobody is allowed to stand up or use the restrooms while crossing the Andes" - does it work on all the flights? Is it some kind of official regulation that the fasten seat belt sign must be on during the Andes crossing?
I have crossed the Andes on Chilean and Argentine airlines, and it's been the same. We are given a speech saying that it has to be done that way due to the Chilean air traffic regulations. Good thing, because it can get quite bumpy! In fact, on my last flight from Florianópolis to SCL that I made with my students, some of them were sobbing in silence because of the turbulence. They were really scared! And when the captain said the turbulence was over, it got even worse!!
Flying over mountains is almost always turbulent (as flying over India - the moment you enter their airspace, the aircraft starts to shake, it's not a joke!) and as the Andes are so high it must be a rollercoster sometimes...
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58 reviews
9 Comments
"It's like taking a flight from Madrid to Paris… via Moscow!"
- Or rather like the twice weekly flight from Charleroi to Brest... via Toulon. It is the astute combination of the demands for flights from Belgium to the Riviera (CRL-TLN), and for flights between the two largest French Navy bases (TLN - BES).
I take good note of THE vending machine in SCL... and of that well-hidden Maxi K Store (An airside sandwich at 1500 CLP is hard to beat !)
Keep seat belts fastened while crossing the Andes : is it a local regulation (due to frequent turbulences / bad weather) ?
This pan looks a lot more Chilean than francés to me ;) It looks good, though !
Identifying a city at night from the pattern street lights is a difficult task, but Chivilcoy decided to help you. Nice picture !
Haha, you really fooled me when describing your relationship with Rayita ! (Mrs. Marathon was wiser and guessed the solution ;)
"As soon as you arrive, you can cover almost the whole airport in a glance"
- Interesting how we now equate an airport with its duty-free shopping area ;)
Foreign exchange counters, but I guess there are ATMs too ?
Thanks for sharing !
And I wonder if the Peruvian town of Cajamarca should be translated "cashiermark". XD
I find the words "cashier desks" quite weird. I wonder if "checkout" is more commonly used. And yes, "checkout" would be "caja" in Spanish. They guy who works there is the "cajero".
Must be. Every time we cross the Andes we hear the same letany: Por disposición de la autoridad aeronáutica, todos los pasajeros deben permancer sentados y con los cinturones abrochados blah blah blah. I've almost learned it by heart. And they mean it. Even if you leave your seat for some seconds to find something in the luggage bin, you'll be pestered over the PA until you sit down again.
But if you look carefully, there's also a little window through which you can see baggage claim! That would be about half the airport! :D
There must be, but I didn't see them at the time. :(
Thanks for dropping by! :)
Seeing your reports of Sky, it seems that they offer a solid product on both regional and domestic and no duct tape necessary, impressive!
There should be a "duct-tape-free" certification for airlines, indeed!
Yes, for my very personal taste, Sky is better than Latam and JetSmart, the other two large commercial airlines.
From my reading, this flight is now sentenced to death!
I have crossed the Andes on Chilean and Argentine airlines, and it's been the same. We are given a speech saying that it has to be done that way due to the Chilean air traffic regulations. Good thing, because it can get quite bumpy! In fact, on my last flight from Florianópolis to SCL that I made with my students, some of them were sobbing in silence because of the turbulence. They were really scared! And when the captain said the turbulence was over, it got even worse!!
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