Avis du vol entre Bogota et Santa Marta en classe Economique avec LATAM

INTRODUCTION

Hello amigos!
This is part 3 of my Colombia trip back in 2022. 

My previous flights that took me from Madrid to Bogotá were:

After a couple of days in Bogotá, it was time to go to the Caribbean, more specifically to Santa Marta (the 3rd largest city in the region).

Back in 2022, there were several options to fly between BOG and SMR, Avianca, LATAM, Viva (Colombia), Wingo and Ultra Air.

Ultra Air was short lived LCC that was prone to fail at any moment, so I didn't even consider it. Wingo had inconvenient schedules, either too early or too late, and so it was discarded. This left us with the 3 largest airlines at the time. 

Since AV turned into an LCC I avoid it like the plague, so that left us with Viva and LATAM. Viva is an LCC, but its prices were pretty much like LATAM, so it was a no brainer… While LATAM also behaves like an LCC in the Colombian market, its service is a bit superior to Viva Colombia.

And so, we chose LATAM as our carrier for the domestic legs of our trip within Colombia.

AT BOGOTÁ ELDORADO

I took an uber to BOG, which took about half an hour to get me to the airport in a tipically dull and gray day in Bogotá

Once inside, I located LATAM's check in counters straight away and went to one of the self check in machines

You are supposed to do the whole deal yourself, and then drop the bags at the counter. Not too much trouble.

It was a busy day with a lot of flights to all corners of Colombia by the five airlines competing back then in the market.

I spotted something odd when looking at the Cargo platform… the KL 787 was parked there, which wasn't a good sign for those who planned to fly to Amsterdam that day.

Back inside to the terminal I had brunch at the typical Crepes and Waffles restaurant 

Then it was time to go to my gate. LATAM and AV operate from different concourses at BOG. The south concourse is almost exclusively used by AV, whilst the north concourse (which also has swing gates for international flights) is used by LATAM.

As I passed the quick security check, I had a nice view to the LATAM Airbus lineup

The north-domestic concourse has less amenities than the south one (eg. no lounge)… it has improved with time though

Our ride for the day was already waiting for us

BOARDING LATAM'S A319

We waited about 30 mins for boarding to begin. LATAM uses a very segmented group-boarding process with about 7 groups for a little A319.  As mentioned, since they behave as a LCC they also check and bother about cabin bags. Since I wasn't carrying any, that wasn't an issue for me.

Once inside, one could tell this A319 had seen better days…but it was enough for the 1 hour hop to Santa Marta

The seat also had useless IFE controls 

ENROUTE TO SANTA MARTA

The little A319 got filled and we were on our way to Santa Marta on time.

As is the case with most north-bound departures, we were to use RWY 13L

We banked to the left and then we had the city-tour to the northern half of Bogotá (the airport is more or less situated at the middle of the city north-to-south wise.

Downtown Bogotá and Monserrate and Guadalupe hills. Teusaquillo district and the Campin football stadium are also visible

Then is Chapinero and part of Barrios Unidos

Then the "posh" part of town 

Then 100 st and its unfinished skyscraper

Then 116 street

Zooming out for a better view of northern Bogotá

Then what used to be my mental border of the city when groing up, 170 Street

From there urbanised areas become scarce and give way to the suburbs

And then to the countryside

Where we could spot this odd-and big church

It was made by the Knights of the Virgin Mary and has a very colourful interior

As we crossed the Bogotá Savannah,  Tominé reservoir is visible

Weather became hazy…as is typical in this part of Colombia

Once we left the Andes the clouds receded

And we followed the mighty Magdalena River

There was no service on this flight…so inside, this was pretty much the "view" throughout the whole hour

Then we neared the Ciénaga de Zapatosa

With the big Coal mines nearby

If I'm not wrong, this is Aracataca, where Gabriel García Márquez was born

The clouds covered the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta…and as we descended we leveled with the mountains…nearing the banana plantations

Flaps were lowered over the Santa Marta - Barranquilla highway

We flew over the Coal ports and then in no time we landed…SMR is a little wedge of land that protudes into the Caribbean

As the field is so small there is no taxiway, so we had to backtrack

It took some time to get off the plane…the Terminal is just steps from the Sea!

I was positively surprised by the newly reformed terminal, 

I picked my bag in no time and I was on my way to my hotel