Review of KLM flight from Bogota to Cartagena in Economy

Introduction

Hello amigos, welcome to another installment of my FR series on a trip to Colombia back in 2022.
The route between Spain and Colombia was booked on AF/KL whereas the domestic flights were booked with LATAM.
Previous flights are here:

I was excited about this flight, I had flown KLM on an intercontinental flight back in 2013 between PTY and AMS and used it also between MAD and AMS. But I was eager to see how its service had changed.

Contrary to AF, LH, UX and IB, KLM does not flight straight from Bogotá to Amsterdam. Rather, it flies on a triangular segment: AMS-BOG-CTG-AMS. So this first FR will cover the BOG-CTG leg first and then I'll cover the CTG-AMS part on another FR.

At Bogotá's Eldorado International Airport

An Uber brought me to Eldorado in a brisk. Once inside, the place was still relatively empty, as only travellers were allowed in.

I took advantage of my Flying Blue Silver Status and used the SkyPriority lane

Done with check in in no time, it was time to head to the airside. I had enlisted to BioMIG passport control which allowed me to leave Colombia in seconds

Once done with the security check I was dumped into the dutty free area

I took some time to check out the local scene…mostly Avianca at the hour, and a single A320 from now defunct Ultra Air

I then headed to the El Dorado lounge where I sat on a lounge chair for a couple of hours to try to settle my slight hangover (not a good thing for the long trek ahead)

Lunch options weren't too fancy, this felt more like a "corrientazo" (cheap office worker restaurant) than a "premium" lounge.

But it was good.

Done with food, back to planes. Just in front of the Lounge entry a nice AeroMexico 737 was waiting for its flight back to Mexico City

Because of the gate configuration, this was the best view I had of our ride to Amsterdam from the gate area:

Not many people were at the gate, and so I thought a rather empty flight laid ahead of me…

We were then called to board, I was pretty excited to try KLM once again!

Boarding

As you may see, face masks were still a thing back then… and we were covidly but warmly welcomed into the 789

Our first view is to the Economy Confort seats, not a real Economy Premium (KLM does have Premium Economy nowadays though) 

And then…my seat, which seemed more than enough for the about 13 hours ahead. I don't recall if a pillow was provided, but a KLM-sky-blue blanket awaited for each passenger at their seat.

The view outside evidenced there wasn't much traffic at that time in BOG (a whole different deal to how busy BOG is these days)

Seatback pocket contents were a bit underwhelming, but in line with the era…

Some Covid related bla bla bla was available at the IFE for fellow passengers' tranquility

Enroute to Cartagena!

Pax who were flying from AMS to CTG boarded with us and then boarding was completed. I had the whole row for myself (I was looking forward to this being the case for the full flight)….and we were on our way to the Caribbean!

An AV 787 was also leaving (don't remember where), while the first IB flight had arrived from MAD

We had a big visitor from South Carolina

We then waited for takeoff from RWY 13L, as usual for northbound departures

But first, we had to give way to this TK 788 inbound from IST

It was then our turn to leave BOG, making a sharp turn left towards the North

I usually like to seat on the right hand of the plane to check the hills and larger buildings at BOG, but the left side afforded better views upon landing at CTG, so…this time it is a mini-tour of West Bogotá

Los Lagartos Country Club, Suba Hills, and Mazurén can be seen, further north the Bogotá Savannah narrows near Zipaquirá.

Engativá and Eldorado to the left

80th Street, which becomes the highway to the Magdalena Valley, from there you can go to Medellín or the Caribbean

Zoom into BOG and the Nevado del Tolima in the Background

This zone of Bogotá is Suba, home to about 1 million people

The city gives way to the fields and suburbs like Cota and Chía

The Bogotá River snaking through the Bogotá savannah

This is the suburb of Chía (meaning 'Moon' in muisca language)

Clouds then brought the tour to an end

Trying the fancy Dreamliner windows

By then, the crew passed by handing us brownies and water bottles. The brownie was super tasty,

Souveniers from Covid times…

The Magdalena River

Midway through our trip

We left the Andes behind and now we flew over 

This part of Colombia is filled with marshlands

Nearing CTG

The Caribbean is in view

We were now over the Cartagena Bay

Bocagrande penninsula in the background

Zoom in to the skyscrapers in Bocagrande

La Popa Hill, crowned by a convent

Landing iminent

CTG's ramp

We used the full runway and backtracked at the north end of it, which is metres away from the sea

Here Leg 1 ends…