It's a shame how Avianca went from being one of the best Colombian careers to one of the worst in the continent. This was due to the pandemic and mostly to the bad administration team they have. Even now low-cost airlines can be decent compared to Avianca. Sadly, Avianca is no longer what it used to be...
It was already bad before the Pandemic, I remember flying business class on their a330 in 2018 and 2019 and getting nothing but a breakfast wrap on a 6 hr flight from NY to Bogota...
Avianca es la peor aerolínea con la que he viajado. Los aviones están en muy mal estado y te cobran $160 por maleta solo compras por check-in o en el aeropuerto.
Felix, I agree with you: the pandemic as an argument to offer such a mediocre onboard service is just a silly excuse. Behind this argument, there is an agressive strategy to reduce cost as most as possible. It is clear that Avianca is no longer the great airline it used to be. In Avianca, Boeing 787 is still a good hard product, but service is, in practice, migrating to a low-cost model. In short and medium haul flights, there is very little or no onboard service. In A320 fleet, aircrafts are being retrofitted to a high density, so close to a low-cost airline, even there is not possibility to purchase food on board!
@Simply Aviation, been a viewer for years now never a dull moment, Great to see how you have improved and how the times have changed. Don't stop what your doing, love your vids always.🙂
You have that special quality of being able to go straight to your seat and immediately sitting down - unlike many, who feel the need to stand in the aisle, faffing around with their carry-on luggage, and delaying fifty passengers behind them. Interesting review, on a sparsely-reported route. The catering, on such a long flight, shames the airline.
I don't accept the weak excuse of the "pandemic" for Avianca's poor catering. Most airlines have now moved on, and returned to normal service. The quality of a meal and it's presentation says pretty much all there is to be said about an airline.
Thank you very much for your reports. It's always a must see. It's sad to see how Avianca has downgraded the in-flight service because of the pandemics. Once upon a time they were the best airline in South America, but covid came a hit them hard. That kind of meal in a long haul flight is pathetic.
For a nine hour flight, that's the saddest looking meal ever ;-;
2 года назад
Unfortunately, Avianca is turning into the worst airline in South America by far! The same service, which is a shame, now comes in a cute box. And they managed to get it even worse! Beverages are: that little bottle of water and coffee. At least that's was on my last flight with them: BOG-GRU (5 1/2 hour). And I'm not even mentioning their "new cabin" on their 319's and 320's. Seats with no entertainment system, with almost no leg room, as thin as an iron board and, in economy, NO RECLINING! 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️ As always, great video!!
You’re lucky your sandwich was warm!!! I had the same sandwich from LAX-BOG-UIO-BOG-LAX and was cold!!! YUK!!!! What a shame and I expected better from Avianca because it was my first time flying with them! And this was in September 2022! Sadly their 787 was worn and dirty
Avianca was hit hard by the pandemic. Colombia went into full lockdown for about six months, which included closure of the airports. They barely survived, and in the bankruptcy process, they got rid of all their planes outside of the Airbus 320 series except for the Boeing 787.
Exactly the same happened to LATAM (bankruptcy, full lockdown in Chile) and nowadays the service is near as good as before, and they have not even left Chapter 11. Avianca now looks like a lowcost.
@@sebastianliksza9892 Except it wasn't normal flu. COVID-19 was 20 times deadlier than influenza, and a lot more contagious. It would have overwhelmed the health care system to the point that other conditions would have been untreated resulting in even more deaths. Now that we have vaccines and treatments, COVID-19 is behaving more like the flu, which is manageable.
That short meal was not because of the pandemic, I’m sure of it. Avianca is definitely changing their products since the start of the outbreak, and this’s the result
I remember the first time I travel to Spain from Bogotá; the service was top. We got snacks between meals and wipes to clean our hands. We could ask for more snacks and drinks too. Last year, I traveled again to Spain, and we only got our two meals, no wipes, no extra drinks, no snacks.
I always love every single video, as it shows the real experience and not the fake experience. This was pretty disappointing for a 10 hour flight, I would expect a hot meal in September 2021, I would let it slip for September 2020 but no later. Great video as always!
Oh gosh and on a long haul flight! I remember pre pandemic their meals on long-haul flights were never sufficient enough. I used travel with them a lot, especially BOG-LHR-BOG. Although 2 full meals were provided, the quantity was not enough, after 11 hours, I used to feel so hungry upon arrival. Even their short haul flights before were pretty good with a decent meal (BOG-LIM-BOG) but from 2018, they changed it to only a hot sandwich, whereas before they would have given a full meal on a tray. Que lastima! I read the other day that their business model now seems to be more in-line with LCCs.
Sigo todos tus viajes porque yo no podré hacerlo. Me transportan al asiento contiguo al tuyo y veo por tus ojos 👀. Todo es importante. Yo viajé mucho hace tiempo y me fijaba en todos los detalles. Por supuesto, todo ha mejorado con los años, pero siempre recordaré el magnífico A380 de AIR EGIPTO.
Avianca has become a total crap airline! Reduced seat pitch in Economy, even worse for a domestic connection. They should be thrown out of Star Alliance. I flew all the way to Istanbul last month and then back to my destination which was Amsterdam, just to avoid Avianca. On Turkish the service and food was amazing, including a Chef onboard. I now use LatAm domestically, and Copa or Turkish internationally with American, via MIA to Los Angeles. I believe the current ownership of Avianca (Big United investors!) have changed their head office to London and have some devious plan that will ultimately destroy what was once the flagship airline of South America!
Avianca is the second oldest airline in the world(formerly SCADTA) and the first to introduce the Boeing 747 in Latin America! I flew them a lot when they flew Bogota-San Juan-Madrid-Paris-Frankfurt. I would board in SJU on my way to Austria connecting in FRA with Austrian's DC9-32!! That was flying! Many ups and downs but they are still here. AV was famous for their excellent RUANA ROJA Service.
Thanks for the trip report. This is the first Avianca review I've seen and the lack of catering is certainly 'interesting'. I'm not a big eater. Some female cabin crew friends from Singapore Airlines who know me from regular flights like to joke that I eat less than they do (on long haul flights of up to 14 hours I'll typically eat only one meal instead of the two or three which are served). But I think even I would feel hungry on a flight like this!!!!
I used to fly avianca every time, since they went into chapter 11, they havent been the same, it has become a low cost now, and there is nothing we can do about it, such a shame how a good airline got destroyed
To be fair to Avianca it was more substantial catering than I got with BA on a flight from JFK in economy in 2017. A sliver of lettuce as salad, a minuscule main and tumble full of mousse. Breakfast was either a cereal bar or Cadbury small dairy milk chocolate bar. Thank goodness I had time for a pizza at the terminal.
Its funny, i watched your old Tripreport on that route ysterday ^^The Video is now 2 years old and its great to see the the change that happend in Covid-times ^^
Avianca pretty much post all of the good things it once used to have. They continue to use "biosecurity" and COVID as an excuse to cut meals and short-haul ife. They also increased the amount of seats on their airbus a320s, making their product more uncomfortable. Honestly, my days of Avianca is over.
Hi guys! I saw this story on your instagram when you flew this. I was wondering when it was coming out but here it is! Y'all are one of the best aviation enthusiasts and I am looking forward to seeing further videos!!!! I really hope you guys do a swiss brutally honest once!
My next vacation (in late summer) always included an 8 hour avianca flight - when i finally booked this week I added another 11 hour avianca flight. I was thrilled when I found out they had dreamliners but I hope they bring back a better food service - I'll probably get a snack on my 2 hour-feeder before the avianca long haul. So 2 Snacks may sustain me.
Wow.. did not expect the quality of meals being served in Avianca being that low… I haven’t flown with them since the start of the pandemic and after watching this review that’s not gonna change. Great video though! Kudos!
Flew Avianca from LAX to BOG in 2022. Cold sandwiches and only water on our flight. The IFE choices were also very limited. I knew the airline had some financial issues but I still expected a little more than what we got.
You're lucky to get some food for 10 hr flight. In 2014, I took a non-stop 10 hr flight from Newark, NJ to Honolulu Hawaii with United and they gave me NOTHING. Yes, no free food - just drinks. Non-perishable food (snack in a box) is available for purchase. But I knew this before boarding. Four of us were traveling together and we brought our own full meal in a cooler: fried noodle and nice blackforest cake as dessert. The flight attendant was jealous with our food.
I'm curious as to why the Aruba logo is showing in the Inflight Entertainment screen as Avianca doesn't use the B787 in the BOG-AUA-BOG service. Edit October 2023: I flew Avianca in August 2023 from Aruba to Bogota to Barcelona and back. The short haul flight is extremely basic. Nothing offered on board. On both legs of the long haul segment there were two hot meals served with two choices each + snacks available at the back of the cabin. So, they seem to be moving back to the right direction.
Ive had to use Aviancr@p a couple of times because my mom feels more comfortable with them. They have been a pain from the moment you arrive at the Airport, their personel dont talk to eachother so we wasted time making line on the wrong line, then they measure everything you got on you, they even weight your carry on. Food was a Sandwich and this was before the Pandemic. My cousin got Stranded with them in Bogota and they lost his luggage.
What a shame, on September 2021 I flew 5 hours from Lima to Miami in an American 787 and had a full dinner and breakfast lol, no excuses at that time with Covid
What the hell...!? No full meal for more than 10 hours, just sandwiches and cake..? What disappointed airlines..! Even airline that will face bankruptcy like Thai Airways still gives great services to their passengers... There's no excuse to cut the essentials parts like giving the passengers full meals especially for the long haul routes because Avianca is full service airline..! What a very bad and disappointed airline... For cutting the full meal service to save the airline from bankruptcy. That's unacceptable...!! You are full service airline Avianca, not a low cost airline..!!
You should go to lima, it’s a small airport who won a lot of skytrax best south american airport awards and actually they are building their new terminal
Is that possible? only sandwiches on a 10 hour flight? A hot meal would be better
2 года назад
Be careful when booking with Avianca for these long-haul flights. The following happened to me flying direct from Barcelona to Bogotá. Only a hot pastry every 5 hours in a 10.5-hour flight is simply absurd. I also had my own water bottle to reduce waste and when asked for extra water to the crew, they gave me a little plastic bottle that with just a couple sips is over. The entertainment system only had 9 movies to choose from and the headsets were only handed out by the crew 1.5h after departing and with the first “meal”. To be honest I was looking forward to this flight as I didn’t want to loose the chance to be back in their Dreamliner but now I rather fly with another airline if it keeps the same in my flight back
Just flew them from BOG-JFK. I am shocked at how awful they’ve become, such a shame. No longer hot meals served, not even water. Everything has to be purchased. Seats are thin and don’t recline. Miss the days when their flight attendants looked excited and professional, and when they used 767s/A330s/787s on the JFK route. They made themselves the Spirit of Latin America. What a pity.
Veo que el video fue realizado en septiembre del 2021 y hasta ahora es publicado, han pasado 20 meses desde que se realizó este video y el servicio a bordo de la aerolínea en estos 20 meses ha cambiado y al momento hay dos servicios de alimentación y ambos son comida caliente.
does anyone know if they are giving full meals now(July 2022) ? I know Copa gives you good meals in shorter routes like from Panama to Peru, but idk about Avianca, I have a booked a flight with them this December I dont want to starve during a 9h flight.
I am surprised with Avianca you know, it’s not that they brand themselves as a low cost carrier! I am sure they do have problems keeping up, considering airlines is a costly business
They returned, I flew in November from Bogota to London and fortunately there was hot and complete meals, but they reduced the entertainment by removing the music and the duty free from the IFE, but it's better to have short entertainment than short food tbh
@@davchac3813 Thanks for the tip! Hot meals are impt - I don’t mind skipping the music if there are some movies to keep me occupied. :) I’ll add this to my list of carriers to S America if their fares remain competitive in the coming year.
Todas las aerolíneas del continente Americano en general son una letrina, sin embargo AVIANCA se lleva las palmas, recuerdo cuando se juntaron Avianca y TACA, TACA daba excelente servicio y tenía excelentes conexiones, después de la fusion se hizo una mierda como siempre ha Sido AVIANCA.
Felix, that sucks, 2 sandwiches on a 10 + hour flight, I'd be pissed if that's what they offered to me. I'm glad Hawaiian Airlines serve hot meals, even on short 4 hour flights to the west coast.
