iNTRODUCTION
Hello amigos,
This FR is on one of Colombia's most popular tourist routes: San Andrés to Bogotá, which happens to be the longest domestic route to/from BOG.
San ANDRÉS airport
Despite being one of Colombia's tourism hotpspots and the recent spur of airport renewals in the last 10 years, ADZ hasn't been upgraded. The terminal building tries to emulate local architecture with a Caribbean vibe.
The check in hall is big enough and did not feel too crowded (maybe is because of the slow business that time of day though)
The second floor has the departure gates, and a few stores and coffee shops to buy some drinks. Nothing awesome and overpriced.
The open architecture allowed for last views of the island
FIDS
The terminal also had a pooch trying to escape the midday heat
The unused international departures filter. ADZ has seasonal flights to Canada, and CM used to operate flights to PTY. AA plans (?) to fly to MIA too.
The gate area itself is pretty basic.
Contrary to street views, tarmac views are restricted…
It seems all gates are swing gates so arriving/departing passengers are segregated
Boarding and en route to bogota
LATAM used to serve Colombia with a mix of old A319 and newer A320s, we were to ride on one of the A319s
The cabin felt old, but it did the job. Seat pitch was sufficient for the 2h flight
We taxied to RWY 06 which alllowed to see local fauna.
Takeoff was the highlight of this flight, which allowed for awesome views of the island and its surrounding seas
Without any IFE I spent most of the time checking out LATAMs BOB menu (a novelty at the time) and their magazine
I then bored myself to sleep…which came to an end nearing Bogotá
And so…without much more, our flight took us from the blue and sunny Caribbean into the green and cloudy Andes…
Hola Chibcha! Siempre es un placer leer tus FRs. Qué ruta tan interesante! Centroamérica siempre me ha llamado la agtención. Me encantaría visitar Nicaragua, Hunduras, Guatemala o El Salvador alguna vez. Lástima que el clima caluroso me hace pésimo! Y la situación política es otro problema. Y San Andrés está tan cerquita de Nicaragua. Es súper extraño ver que está más cerca de Nicaragua que de Colombia, pero es territorio colombiano!
"Open architecture" means "no air conditioning". Me muerooo... Qué tienen contra el aire acondicionado??? Esos ventiladores en el techo no son suficiente!! XD
Bueno, mi mamá lee Vanidades. Me pregunto qué es peor. lol
Por un lado me alegra que se haya terminado eso de Mercado latam. Era terrible ver a los pobres FAs anunciando "Mercado. Mercado latam. Mercadooo..." Parecía que estaban vendiendo en la calle!! Me daba cosita por ellos.
Ahhh... mi hábitat natural: el frío. Cuando visite Colombia voy a buscar los lugares más altos. jajaj
Gracias por compartir! :D
*atención
*Honduras
Jaja, estaba escribiendo sin mis anteojos
Hola!
Si bien la situación de seguridad en CA no es ideal, entiendo que no deja de ser un destino turístico seguro.
Sobre por qué el archipiélago de San Andrés y Providencia son parte de Colombia es una larga historia, pero en resumen...es que la Nueva Granada y Colombia llegaban hasta lo que ahora es la costa nicaraguense...
Si no te gusta el calor, afortunadamente en Colombia tenemos muchos sitios de clima frío para visitar y conocer :)
Gracias por pasarte y comentar, saludos!!
Hola Chibcha, thanks for sharing this exotic report! Yeah the airport is kind of drab for such a tourist hotspot! The domestic Colombian LATAM experience seems very average otherwise, very similar to my domestic Peruvian flight with them around the same time.
Thanks for sharing !