Introduction
Hello amigos, welcome to the first installment of this 3-part FR from Bogotá to Madrid on KLM.
This is the return trip, that begun with IB from Madrid and also included a side quest to Barranquilla on LATAM. You may check them here:
Enchainement de vols
- 1
- 2
And now you may ask, why return on KLM when you flew in on Iberia?
The answer is…I already had the KLM ticket and I had to spend it before it expired. I had already flown this route the year before, so let's see how KLM is holding up.
At Bogotá's Eldorado International Airport
I took an uber from North Bogotá to the airport. It didn't take long and I didn't suffer any traffic. Perfect.
I was able to check in on the Sky Priority lane with my ITA Volare card, which was a breeze. The regular queue wasn't too busy anyways.
Emigration was also quick using the BioMIG system. You place your passport, and then get your eyes scanned. It is even quicker if you fill the check-mig data online.
Once airside I went straight to the Eldorado Lounge for lunch. On the way i spotted this Wamos A330 that AV was using for its high capacity routes in Latam.
The Lounge wasn't too full
You only get one serving at the lounge (cheap bastards). I got some tomato soup and a very homely (one of my favourite dishes, not something I would expect at a lounge though) arroz con carne molida and some criolla potatoes. I washed it down with a Quatro (grapefruit soda). All in all, stuff I miss.
Done with eating I went to meet the huge smurfjet that would bring me back to Europe
Boarding the Blue Dreamliner
Boarding was orderly by groups. Which is something of a hit or miss deal in Colombia.
I am always happy to fly KLM longhaul. One of the best choices between Europe and America.
Compared to the year before, the Premium Economy seats were a new feature. Sadly I wasn't able to upgrade.
Then came the Economy comfort seats with more room that regular economy class.
And then the regular economy class where I was to be seated.
Pillow and blanked provided
Adequate PTV
My view
The mood lighting was fired up right away
The tail-less LATAM 787 and Chapinero in the background
Hello you!
It's a shame that TK switched to A350s on this route.
KLM's safety video is great
Enroute to Cartagena
Boarding completed, we were off to Cartagena.
The terminal was slowly being filled by the mid-afternoon flights, featuring Iberia, Aeromexico, Turkish and the local player, Avianca.
An RAF A400M visiting, I'm still unsure what it was doing there.
FAC-001.
The Russian sector
Viva's corpses.
A BN Islander (?)
After the (suspected) Islander cleared the runway, it was time for us to leave Bogotá
We turned right to the north
Zoom in to BOG
Zoom out as Western Bogotá came to view
Bogotá gave way to the grasslands and greenhouses of the Bogotá Savannah
Then the town of Cota
And Chía
To the bottom of the picture is Andrés Carne de Res…one of the world's largest's nightclubs. Also a very good restaurant.
And then my initial IFE was spoiled by the clouds
So let's turn to what KLM had to offer for this short hop.
I love the map feature pops some fun facts of the places we are flying over.
Including the raison d'etre to my username
Enter text here…
It was a great source for fun
By this time we got our snack. I was looking forward to the brownies I got a year before. They were one of the best I had in the recent years (which says a lot about the state of brownies in Madrid). But I got a boring stroopwafel (they are too sweet for me).
As we neared CTG the skies cleared, so we had a gread view of the sun over the wetlands
Soon we crossed over the Canal del Dique, meaning we were about to land
And we were now over Cartagena Bay
Full flaps for this short runway
I love the view to Bocagrande while we land
Once you see La Popa, that means your flight is to end
And so leg 1 came to an end
We were welcomed by a JetBlue A320 that was heading back to the US
