Background
Avianca has a large fleet of Airbus aircraft (A319, A320 and A321) as well as long haul A330 and B787.
Check-in
We arrived at the airport at 0835 for the 1015 departure on AV649. The check-in desk was close to the taxi drop-off bays, and on the same level. The terminal was light and airy, in a pleasant contrast to some other airports in Central America, such as Mexico City.
Avianca’s check-in had several desks, despite only around a dozen customers in the area, and though there was a separate queue for Star Alliance Gold and business class passengers this had little effect since all passengers were being processed quickly. The Avianca staff were polite and efficient, rejecting my attempt at Spanish with polite English. We had bags to check in, and then headed off to security, which was also quick, though the attendant watching the X-ray screens seemed more focused on their phone, which gave me a slight worry over the effectiveness of the security.
San Jose airport is relatively small, and the gate was just a two-minute walk away, with plenty of seating complete with socially distanced chair cordons. Food options were plentiful, though expensive compared to general prices in San Jose. Announcements for boarding were in Spanish and English, although the Avianca tannoy was almost impossible to understand.
Boarding
The plane was at 80 per cent occupancy. Business class and speedy boarding passengers came first, before the calling of rows as is normal during Covid restrictions. Boarding was well organised.
Seats
The A319 aircraft seats 120 passengers, with a small business cabin of 2-2 seating (12 seats in total) followed by 108 economy seats in a 3-3 configuration of ABC-DEF. The economy seats can be reclined after take-off, and are old and comfortable with what now counts as a generous amount of legroom (32 inches) compared to modern configurations. I am 6ft5in and had legroom to spare.
I had not paid for seat selection so was in 21E, a middle seat. Luckily, the window seat was empty so I moved across and had the middle seat free, and could enjoy the view. On the downside, the lady in the window seat in front of me was a nervous flyer, and prayed fervently and quite loudly throughout take-off and landing.
The interior is a neutral grey and white with splashes of Avianca’s signature crimson red. There were some signs of wear and tear in the cabin, such as an air vent cover hanging slightly ajar and multiple seat belt/no smoking signs flickering.
The flight
There was no inflight entertainment, perhaps because of the short flight duration. Before take-off the pilot spoke exclusively in Spanish, other than a pre-rehearsed welcome, and something he said caused the entire cabin to erupt in rapturous applause. He didn’t repeat this in English, so I will never find out what it was.
On flights less than an hour, no food or drinks are served, though water is available on request. On flights of one to three hours, a menu box is offered with pre-packaged food and a snack pack with water and/or coffee. On this flight, refreshments were a small bottle of water, a fairly awful sandwich of ham and imitation cheese, along with some yucca crisps, and a coffee that tasted closer to bitumen than beans.
Masks were worn during the flight but once food came, staff did not harass anyone to immediately put masks back on. Service was very impressive throughout, with staff helping with declaration forms and individual requests and speaking in both English and Spanish while serving drinks.
Arrival
We arrived on time and disembarking was efficient. There was a short walk of around two minutes to the terminal. Then there was a two-hour wait for immigration control in the airport. with three desks unmanned out of around ten, despite around 500 people queuing at one time.
Verdict
A good flight, even if there were few English announcements and the food was not good (luckily we had already eaten breakfast at San Jose airport).
FACT BOX
- Flight duration 1 hour 50 minutes
- Configuration 3-3
- Seat pitch 31-33 inches
- Seat width 17.8 inches
- Price Internet rates for a return economy class flight from San Jose to Cartagena in July start at US$125
- Contact avianca.com
Words: Nathaniel Otley
