INTRODUCTION
Hello amigos, welcome to this FR covering my return from the Caribbean Coast of Colombia to Bogotá.
This will be a short FR, and while short, I think it serves for documentary purposes of how CTG is (or was back in 2022).
This FR is part of a series, you may see other FRs here:
Flight routing
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And without further ado…
AT CARTAGENA'S RAFAEL NUÑEZ AIRPORT
CTG is a prime example of an underserving airport. Cartagena is probably Colombia's prime touristic destination and yet, its airport is a relic from the 1960s.
It has been subject to a lot of upgrades, but its infrastructure cannot cope any more with Cartagena's success story. Single runway, no taxiways, no airbridges only hard stands, and just enough space to accomodate less than 10 planes at the same time.
The check in zone is one of the most recent works. It still feels modern and at least at our time of visit, it wasn't crowded at all.
The security check (not pictured) was swift, but it is a bottleneck. It may be saturated at peak hours.
Once you're done with security you pass to the boarding area. There are no gates as such, just a huge pavillion, with tons of chairs, with restaurants and stores around. The general feeling is that of a bus station. There is a VIP Lounge on the second floor. I did not take pictures of it this once, but it is pretty basic.
Boarding may be hectic at CTG; specially if more than one flight is boarding at the same time.
All passengers have to cross this tunnel
And then guess (or sometimes there is some ground crew) which plane to board
BOARDING LATAM's A319
As an AvGeek, its a thrill to board from the ground. You can experience all the sights, smells and sound that the tarmac offers. But I reckon that for mere mortals, this may be annoying, specially if you're under the rain or sun.
AV was promoting Disney's Encanto, which is supposed to take place in Colombia
One last view of our A319 before boarding. I find the IAE engines sexier than the CFM
Our A319, like the one that took me to SMR, was still equipped with the old interiors, which screamed of the age and abuse the plane had during its service with LATAM…but it was confortable enough for th 1h ride to Bogotá
As we taxied, KLM's 787-9, that came from BOG, was ready to go to AMS
ENROUTE TO BOGOTÁ
As mentioned, there is no taxiway in CTG, so procedures take some time…we went to the south end of the runway, there is a little D-shaped taxiway for backtracking and waiting for incoming planes and we were good to go
Night fell while we were flying, so it was pretty uneventfull all in all…
Not sure why you put "A320" as plane type when that's an A319.
se equivocó nomás, piola 🤣
Hola! Not a fan of these old interiors. They're so cramped. LATAM, usually one of the better South American carriers, were basically no different from LCCs during the pandemic with no service at all on short flights. Luckily, that changed later in 2022 when they brought back snacks and drinks.
Looks like your plane had LATAM Play streaming IFE installed as I see the sticker on the seat back. But I see you rated IFE 0/10; was it not working?
Thanks for sharing!
Later that year LA did introduce drinks and snacks service. And I was able to use the IFE. Also the interiror on their A320s is far better.
I don't remember using it on this flight, I was too tired from a 'busy' week at the beach.
Thanks for passing by!