Welcome to the 3rd and final leg of my trip from Argentina to Colombia.
The first leg (COR-SCL) can be found here:
http://flight-report.com/en/report-6292.html
And the second leg (SCL-BOG) is here:
http://flight-report.com/en/report-6308.html
After disembarking the LA (or better said, the 4C, Lan Colombia) B767 I passed through immigration. I was very tired and sleepy. However,
I was happy to be finally in Colombia…
First impression I got from BOG El Dorado Airport new terminal was excellent. Everything new and spotless. Sometimes governments and airport authorities forget how much important is a good first impression for a foreigner tourist or a business traveler. And in this case, Bogotá really surprised me…
I was supposed to meet a friend of mine who lives in Bogota, to drink a famous Colombian coffee before getting my flight, but we couldn't meet each other because of my mobile phone's signal.
So I had to wait until 11AM for my flight to Cartagena and there wasn't much to do except spotting and walking through the new airport terminal. Two boring activities for most of the travelers, but of course not for an aviation geek, like us… :P
This is the old ATC tower. It always makes me feel nostalgic watching an old airport near demolition…
Not to mention this picture: so many passengers were there through the years… Really sad…
On the other hand, progress… I just loved the BOG new national terminal.
Lan Colombia, Copa Airlines Colombia, and a former TACA (Avianca) still with the old livery, on a sunny Bogotá's morning…
As I said, I was very tired. So, I just sat on a seat near the so called gate 84 waiting for the flight LA3094. I usually don't like to fall asleep while waiting for a flight, but I was exhausted. Last 3 days, including NYE I had slept like 8hs…
Suddenly, I woke up around 10:50am, just 15 min. before the scheduled departure time and there was no sign of my flight at the gate… I walked to one of the screens and I saw the gate number had been changed to 89 and showed the last call announcement… I ran scared downstairs to gate 89 and the LA agent asked me: Where are you coming from Mr. Avionero? You almost lost the flight… I replied: Córdoba…ehmm… Santiago de Chile… I didn't know what to say and I just ran to the jetway…
The plane was 100% full. The IFE was the In Lan's very good inflight magazine. No PTV…
The seat pitch was tight but OK for my height. These new seats were less comfortable than the old ones in the Lan fleet. I guess they are lighter and reduce fuel consumption. Same old story…
While taxiing I enjoyed spotting some unique (for an Argentine) machines
That seemed to be a Colombian Air Force Museum
Nice group of Beechcraft 1900D of Searca
Avianca's A320 or A319 approaching…
Let's go (finally) to Cartagena
As Chibcha had already shown in his reports, Bogotá is a huge capital
You don't realize how high Bogotá is until you see those clouds below the plateau… Crazy. I was amazed by the Colombian awesome geography like a gringo tourist… :P
Soon after take off the service began. The box contained Yucas (manihot) and a coconut candy along with the famous Juan Valdez coffee.
The meal box. It says: Did you know that in Colombia exist 1,865 bird species, the world's largest number? That country is stunning…
A cabin view from my seat. A new A320
Spoilers activated for the approach
And finally, 21hs after leaving Cordoba, and 3 different planes, I could spot the beautiful Cartagena de Indias…
Cerro de la Popa (La Popa Hill)
No jetbridges, so we disembarked by stairs
Tourist bonus. I liked very much Cartagena's Old City's colonial architecture magnificently preserved
Of course my flight reports can't be complete without electronic music… I went to Summerland Festival 15km away from Cartagena. Really cool people and in the underground stage main DJs Marco Carola and Loco Dice were playing back to back some of the world's best tech house music…
I hope you enjoyed reading. Comments are appreciated
Finally the longed for FR!
It's really sad to see the old place go...but the new place looks really good.
Indeed, that is the Colombian Air Force museum...never been there though, you can see most of their display when taxying anyway.
The park you liked is actually a Country Club called Los Lagartos (The Lizards), the lake is part of a marsh system,the last remnants of the huge marshland Bogotá has destroyed with its sprawl.
I liked those snackboxes LAN hands out, and they're really trying to win our hearts and minds with the know Colombia factoids.
Awesome pictures of la Heroica, its impressive how much the city skyline has changed in the last decade. The first picture portrays Bocagrande peninsula, home of Bocagrande, Laguito and Castillogrande neihbourhoods. The second picture shows Manga Island, where the main Port is. I love the Caribbean feel of Cartagena's airport, some people consider it's degrading that the airport doesn't have jetbridges.
I hope you do a FR on the return.
Saludos y gracias!
Thanks for your comment and explanation!
Seems that Lan Airlines have learnt with snackboxes, after the Lan Peru's video controversy... ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch'v=knXDLxrjuw0
Saludos!
Thanks for sharing this nice report with some amazing aerial views and bonus on Cartagena.
The snack box seems a bit deficient but for a domestic flight I guess it is OK.
Thanks for your comment!