Today I will take you from Ljubljana to Bogotá on Air France in business class. This routing is very likely the fastest between the two cities. The midday departure time made this trip even more attractive; however, it comes with a 1h 5min connection at CDG. There are not many single-connection alternatives available from Ljubljana to Bogotá. Besides Air France, there are Lufthansa, KLM (offering an earlier departure and arrival in Bogotá; however, on the way back their flight has a stopover in Cartagena), Turkish Airlines (flights and connections are noticeably longer, with a stopover in Panama City on return), as well as Iberia in the summer and a combination of SWISS + Edelweiss in the winter.
I arrived at Ljubljana Airport a bit after 11:30 AM. The check-in process was smooth since Colombia does not require any special entry forms or documents, and Air France issued both flights on a single boarding pass. The terminal was not that busy; however, the lounge seemed quite full. The inner part is rather small, but there is also a terrace which offers a view of the cargo apron. I didn’t spend much time there since, as someone who lives in Ljubljana, I rarely arrive at the airport more than 30 minutes before boarding.
AF1037 is a rather short flight; however, Air France still blocks a full 2 hours for it. I assume this is because it always lands at the very remote Terminal 2G at CDG. Those flights are always operated by HOP Embraers. Apart from the limited storage space, I find those of Air France quite comfortable. They have an older seat model, which I prefer over the ones found on Helvetic. That day everything went well, so the doors opened 20min before the scheduled arrival time.
Flights to Bogotá depart from Terminal 2E, which is further divided into three sections (K, L and M). From my observations, there is no consistency with the gates or even piers. Connecting from 2G to other terminals is not as hard as it seems. It was my first time doing it and I was surprised to see a border control area for non-Schengen connections already within 2G. There were barely any passengers and workers were directing each of us to the respective bus for one of the piers within 2E. That means passengers only have to take one bus and there is no need to ride the shuttle train within 2E after taking the bus.
I didn’t visit the lounge at CDG since boarding had already started. Flights to Bogotá are operated by Airbus A350s. Air France has those in two different configurations. Bogotá flights usually get the older one, which has seats very similar to those found in United Polaris. Despite that configuration being the older one, the seats still felt very modern. For example, the IFE supported Bluetooth connectivity for headphones and a phone could be used as a remote. I managed to get one of the true window seats, and it felt very private.
Air France reupholstered those seats a few years ago because the original colour scheme included brighter colours and white headrests, which I imagine didn’t hold up too well. One design aspect worth mentioning is the electronic window blinds (not the dimmable ones). They seem cool at first; however, there is no way to see anything outside without making the entire window bright. This is because the first step only drops the white blind, and after that the dark one starts rolling down. The new Air France A350s have a reverse herringbone layout and electronic dimmable windows, as well as more seats in business. The cabin was less than half-full, while economy was completely booked.
The duration of the flight was almost 11 hours. During that time there were 2 meal services, and there was a separate hot and cold snack menu for the time between the services. The meals were really good and well prepared; there were 4 main course options for the first service and 2 for the second one. The appetiser, on the other hand, was only one, so make sure to select a special meal in case of dietary preferences.
There was Wi-Fi on the flight, but it didn’t work too well. The IFE content was very extensive, and the system interface was easy to use. Most movies were available in English and French. The in-flight map was great and there were also cameras. Based on the IFE system, I would hardly say this was the older cabin.
Landing in Bogotá was on time and turbulent as always. Approach paths can sometimes be very long because the airport only has two runways and it can be very busy, no matter the time of day. This is partly because flights between North and South America can be difficult to schedule, resulting in many of them arriving or departing during the night. There are also many cargo flights.
The terminal is modern; however, sometimes it can’t handle crowds that well. During rush hours, passport control can take more than two hours. That was luckily not the case on that day. Another interesting fact is that Bogotá El Dorado Airport is located at 2,548 m above sea level, which has a significant effect on aircraft performance and results in higher true airspeeds during take-off and landing.
Colombia is a very large and mountainous country, which is why it needs a solid domestic flight network. Besides Avianca (the flag carrier of Colombia and the second-oldest still-flying airline in the world), there are many other carriers operating domestic flights around the country. There are also LATAM, the low-cost airlines Wingo and JetSmart, as well as the two regional airlines, SATENA and Clic. The network is very extensive and Bogotá is not the only hub. There is also a lot of competition. Almost all routes are operated several times per day, and even the far-away island of San Andres or Leticia in the Amazon are well connected to the rest of the country.
On that trip I had a chance to fly SATENA from Bogotá to Medellín. This is an entirely state-owned airline co-operated by the Colombian Aerospace Forces. This is also why their planes have two registrations: HK- for Colombia and FAC- for the military. In contrast to other airlines, SATENA and Clic fly to Medellín’s Olaya Herrera Airport (EOH), which is right in the middle of the city. Meanwhile, the main airport of Medellín (MDE) is rather far and requires a ride through a long tunnel and a descent into the valley from the east.
SATENA (along with Clic and JetSmart) also flies from a separate domestic terminal at Bogotá Airport called Puente Aéreo (air bridge). This is a very small but efficient domestic terminal. The onward flight was operated by an ATR 42, and the approach into Medellín EOH by itself can be a reason to take this flight. It was very steep and scenic due to the city’s position inside a V-shaped valley. The return flight was on an Embraer ERJ-145.
That airport used to be the main one and it is a very pleasant place to be. The whole gate area is outside and it feels very much like a park. As an interesting fact, in 1976 Avianca landed a 747 there as a stunt. The aircraft in question was a 747-100 named El Dorado, which was the first 747 operated by a South American airline.
I was very satisfied with Air France on that trip. They provided a solid and professional service with a modern hard product, and I will be happy to fly them again. Colombia offers a lot to see and do, and there are many interesting locations served by interesting and scenic airports. For anyone interested in aviation, Colombia is a particularly interesting country to explore by air.
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Thanks for sharing. Was good to compare as I've done the same flight with TK from IST in C.
ReplyDeleteThe IST-BOG leg was by far the longest I've had sofar (13:30hrs), but agreed re departure times, not necessarily the best option.
My departure airport was SKP, so it was an evening flight to IST, then a layover of approx 8hrs to take the morning flight to BOG. The cool thing is, if your layover is more than 8 hrs, the lounge in IST offers mini rooms for free (first come first served)
The onboard experience looks comparable, with some extra frills in TK, like avoiding CDG, which I don't really like, then there's dine on demand with TK, they still have the on board Chef to prepare the meals & the internet was also fine, but for basic stuff like texting. I didn't use it much though as their IFE is excellent.
The metal is the same, they use A350s-900 for the route.
The return flight is indeed via PTY, but didn't bother me. It is an early afternoon flight, you stay in PTY for 1 hr while they clean the cabin, but you get to see the Panama Canal from above during landing.
Thanks, Erik, for the enjoyable trip report. Can we look forward to a second leg covering the journey back home?
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