Flight Report: Bogotá to Lima on Latam

This is the flight report for flight LA2393 from Bogotá to Lima, which I took on October 25 while returning from Bogotá to Montevideo.

The flight was scheduled for 1:00 p.m., so by 10:00 a.m. I was already arriving at El Dorado Airport, which looked very quiet at that time:

In the Latam check-in area, there are self-check-in kiosks, but I didn’t need to use them because I’d already checked in via the app, and I was traveling with carry-on luggage only.

So, knowing that the immigration lines at El Dorado are endless (I’d been through them before!), I went straight to the international departures area. As I expected, the line was very, very long—about 40 minutes. After immigration, the security check was very thorough but moved more quickly:

Once inside the boarding area, and after a quick stop at the duty-free shop, I went in search of a Juan Valdez to enjoy the last mocha of my week in Colombia. On the way, I took the opportunity to snap a few photos of the airport’s hustle and bustle:

With my coffee in hand, I sat right next to the huge windows to enjoy watching the planes arrive. And just then, a beautiful Avianca 787 Dreamliner appeared, fresh off the flight from Buenos Aires:

It’s so nice to see all the activity that kicks into gear when the plane arrives! The jet bridge extending, the ground crew getting to work, the engines shutting down, and the passengers beginning to disembark. It’s a truly brilliant choreography, optimized to the fullest to ensure operational safety and efficiency.

A few minutes before boarding time, I went to the gate indicated on the app’s boarding screen. At the gate, a Latam employee was going passenger by passenger, explaining that carry-on bags had to be checked due to weight and balance issues on the plane. Obviously, this sparked a lot of complaints from the passengers. On the one hand, I understand the complaints because people pack their carry-on luggage specifically to avoid checking it, and often leave valuables or fragile items inside that they hadn’t planned to check. On the other hand, safety comes first, and if that means checking carry-on luggage, it has to be done. I think they should be much stricter about what they allow on board, because I’ve often seen them take carry-on luggage away from people who are traveling properly, while others who board with carry-on luggage, backpacks, bags, etc., aren’t told anything. And, of course, we should all be responsible and carry only what’s allowed under our fare class!

Since I had priority boarding, I didn’t need to check my carry-on. In any case, I was prepared and had a padlock, just in case I had to. I think it’s essential to always have a padlock handy (or a combination lock on your carry-on), in case you have to check it even if you hadn’t planned to.

We boarded, and I took my seat in row 4A. The seating configuration is the same as in economy but with an empty seat in the middle and more space between the seats. Plus, no one else was traveling in my row, so I was very comfortable:

While boarding was underway, I took some photos of all the Avianca planes at their respective gates:

Boarding went fairly quickly, and right on schedule we began pushback and taxied toward the runway. From there, you could see a wide view of all the activity. Of course, El Dorado is Avianca territory, and that’s evident from the presence of so many of the airline’s planes:

After quite a wait, we were cleared for takeoff. We taxied and took off over beautiful Bogotá:

We climbed through the clouds, and finally, the sun came out:

After about 30 minutes, the in-flight service began. The flight attendant—who was incredibly friendly—came by first to ask what we’d like to order. For the main course, the options were beef in red wine sauce or pasta with ricotta and walnuts. For dessert, the choices were cream with three types of chocolate or cheesecake with berries. There were also several wine options. I chose the beef and the cream with three types of chocolate, paired with a Carmenere. Everything was super delicious, and the portions were excellent :)

After lunch, I took a little nap and woke up just as we were descending into Lima. We crossed the mountain range amid quite a bit of turbulence, with beautiful views of the majestic Andes:

We landed on schedule at Jorge Chávez Airport in Lima and were assigned a remote gate. It was the perfect opportunity to take some photos of the A320:

I took the shuttle to the terminal, where we went through the usual long security line, and I settled in for an eight-hour layover. At one of the gates, a KLM 777 had just arrived sporting the beautiful “Orange Pride” 100th-anniversary livery:

And that wraps up the report on this flight! There won’t be a report on the flight from Lima to Montevideo, because the flight departed at 11:50 p.m., I was super tired after the 8-hour layover (although I used my Priority Pass to access a VIP lounge for a few hours), and I wasn’t able to gather much material. But the flight was very smooth; I took the opportunity to get plenty of sleep, and I woke up just as dawn was breaking over Mendoza:

This is how beautiful the sunrise over Montevideo was:

I hope you enjoyed this report! In the coming days, I’ll also be traveling to Mexico City for work, so I’ll have some interesting reports—especially on the SCL-MEX leg on a Dreamliner and the MEX-LIM leg on a 767. Then, in December, I’ll have reports from my trip from Montevideo to Natal—but this time on vacation, heading to Pipa. All flights will be on Latam; we’ve got to make the most of our miles before the airline leaves OneWorld!

See you next time!