Avianca is the world’s second-oldest airline, but it’s had a bit of an identity crisis in recent years. Like many airlines, it went bankrupt at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and has restructured significantly since then.

As part of this process, Avianca ripped the Business Class seats out of all its narrow-body jets and reconfigured the planes with 20% more seats. With this change, Avianca has also repositioned itself from a full-service airline to more of a low-cost carrier.

In October, the Star Alliance member also rebranded as “avianca”, with a lowercase “a” but an otherwise identical logo and livery. In my opinion, this is one of the most pointless airline rebranding exercises we’ve seen for some time.

The airline’s CEO Adrian Neuhauser described the company’s new direction as “perhaps the greatest reinvention of an airline in the history of aviation”, and the new avianca as “more open, closer, more accessible, and with more for everyone”.

Among the Australian Frequent Flyer community, Avianca is perhaps better known for its LifeMiles frequent flyer program. AFF members have been buying LifeMiles for years and redeeming them for discounted Star Alliance Business Class flights.

But what is it like to actually fly with the new avianca?

Avianca Economy Class reviews have been mixed. So I recently tested them out on an almost six-hour flight from Brazil to the airline’s home base in Colombia…

Flight Details

Flight number	AV118
Route	Belo Horizonte (CNF) to Bogota (BOG)
Aircraft type	Airbus A320neo
Class of travel	Economy
Seat number	5K
On-time performance	We arrived on time
Star rating

The route

Flight Cost

I paid approximately AUD$500 for a one-way Economy “L” ticket from Belo Horizonte to Curaçao, via Bogota. This review covers the first Avianca A320neo flight to Bogota.

(I would have paid almost exactly the same price just to fly from Belo Horizonte to Bogota, without the connecting flight.)

Annoyingly, Avianca’s website didn’t seem to accept my Australian credit card so I needed to book with a travel agent.

Although there is a direct flight from Belo Horizonte to Curaçao, I booked the one-stop option with Avianca because it was around half the price of the non-stop Azul flight. There aren’t that many direct international flights from Belo Horizonte, so it was one of only other options that didn’t involve backtracking via Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro.

Avianca’s business model is basically now that of a low-cost carrier. You can purchase Economy Class fares in XS, S, M or L, with “L” (Large) being the highest available fare category on this journey. These fare brand names are based on clothing sizes. Avianca didn’t offer Business Class (branded as “XXL”) on these flights.

Confusingly, my fare class on this itinerary (for the purpose of earning frequent flyer miles) was “S”. So, I had an S and an L ticket at the same time.

My L fare included a checked bag, fee-free changes, airport check-in (yes, this isn’t included on some fare types) and priority boarding, which I would have received anyway thanks to my Star Alliance Gold status. I could also pre-select an Economy “Plus Seat” for free, although this is basically just a seat that’s closer to the front of the plane and has an adjustable headrest. (If available, you could also select an exit row seat for free on an L fare – which I’d highly recommend for reasons that will soon become obvious.)

Airport Experience

I arrived at Belo Horizonte’s International Airport (CNF) around 3 hours before departure and headed to the priority check-in queue. Unfortunately, the priority counter wasn’t manned yet, and the two staff members checking in passengers from the regular queue completely ignored me. After 15 minutes of waiting, another staff member showed up and checked me in.

I cleared security and outbound immigration in no time, and headed to the only lounge in the international departures area at CNF.

From what I could work out, Avianca has no arrangements to allow its Star Alliance Gold passengers to use this lounge. However, I was able to get in with Priority Pass.

It was very early in the morning and I wanted to have a shower. The lounge charged an extra BRL50 (~AU$15) for this. But the shower suite was spotlessly clean, and towels, soap, shampoo, conditioner, a shower cap and a toothbrush/toothpaste were included in the price.

All in all, this was a pleasant lounge with plenty of seating, a full bar with drinks and a coffee machine. There was also a buffet with snacks including pão de queijo (delicious Brazilian cheese bread), sandwiches, cakes, sweets, a salad bar and, for some reason, quail eggs.

There was also a nice view of the airfield out the window, plenty of natural light and some comfortable lounging chairs.

The inbound aircraft had arrived early from Bogota and boarding started on time, beginning with passengers requiring special assistance. Boarding then continued in four groups, with Group A (Star Alliance Gold and passengers booked on “L” tickets) called first.

The Avianca A320neo Hard Product

The aircraft operating today’s flight was a near-new Airbus A320neo.

The first three rows of seating were designated as “Premium Seats”, with the middle seat blocked and a bit more legroom. This is effectively a “European Business Class” setup, except there are no extra on-board services such as meals. You’re just paying for a bit more personal space.

The extra charge to select one of these Premium seats on this almost six-hour flight would have been around AUD$150. In hindsight, that probably would have been worth paying, as the regular Economy Class seats were pretty awful.

The rest of the cabin is laid out in a standard 3-3 configuration. The seats have around 28 inches of seat pitch, which is among the lowest of any airline.

For some reason, Avianca labels its seats as A/B/C on the left-hand side of the plane and D/E/K on the right-hand side. So, seats E and K are next to each other. Go figure!

The leather seats have a slimline design and come pre-reclined, meaning you do at least get an acceptable amount of usable knee space. (Although the Plus seats can also be reclined a bit further, the regular seats towards the back of Economy cannot. The seats behind the exit rows also don’t have adjustable headrests.)

The seat itself was designed well enough, but I definitely noticed the tight seat pitch. I found it difficult to get comfortable and would not want to sit in this seat for six hours again. (For context, even Jetstar has more legroom than Avianca!)

I was among the first to board the aircraft. When I got to my seat, a flight attendant asked me to stow my backpack under the seat in front. I wasn’t keen on this idea, given the already limited leg space available. I’d paid for the most expensive fare available, had checked in my main bag and just had one standard-size backpack as a carry-on, so I wasn’t trying to flout any rules. I expressed my displeasure with the request and the flight attendant agreed to let me put my bag in the empty locker, but said he would give it to me for under-seat storage if overhead space became an issue during boarding.

The plane was clean and seemed new, but it definitely felt like I was on a low-cost carrier. The advertisements on the back of every seat probably contributed to that feeling.

For what it’s worth, when I boarded my next flight from Bogota to Curaçao, I found my seat pocket full of rubbish, including soft drink cans that hadn’t been cleared from the previous flight. Also, my seat cushion didn’t seem to be properly attached to the seat and kept sliding forward.

There was one USB-A and one USB-C charging outlet to share between each row of three seats. Each seat also had a mobile device holder that could be handy for watching movies on your phone.

Avianca doesn’t offer seat-back TV screens or Wi-Fi on its Airbus A320 fleet. But you could connect to the “Avianca ON AIR” streaming entertainment using your personal electronic device.

Annoyingly, you had to provide quite a lot of personal information and then watch an advertisement before connecting to this system. I’m not sure why they needed so much personal information – I spent several minutes reading through the privacy policy and still couldn’t work out what Avianca intends to do with it. I couldn’t find anything in the long privacy policy explaining how that data is used, although one of the clauses stated that the user is required to notify the company of any changes to the data provided. How bizarre.

The moving map wasn’t working on this flight and the English entertainment options were very light-on. There were 27 mostly old movies and seven TV shows, of which very little interested me. Avianca clearly hasn’t invested much into its IFE content.

The Avianca Economy Soft Product

Avianca does not provide any complimentary food or drinks. Instead, products are available to purchase from the onboard menu.

The cabin crew came through the aisle with trolleys after take-off and again towards the end of the flight with items for sale. They also came through periodically to collect rubbish.

I understand that Avianca is now a budget airline and isn’t going to provide complimentary hot meals. However, to be honest, I found the on-board menu quite disappointing. There were only a few fresh food items like sandwiches. Most of the snacks on the menu were just packaged junk food like chips, biscuits or instant macaroni cheese in a plastic cup.

Blankets were available for sale for USD9 (~AU$14).

One more thing: The pilots kept the seatbelt sign on for the entire flight – even through long periods without any turbulence. This seems counterproductive as everyone then just ignored the seatbelt sign – even when there was turbulence.

Arrival Experience

We arrived on time in Bogotá and took buses into the terminal. I had a short connection, but luckily, the transit process through El Dorado International Airport was seamless. It took only a few minutes to clear transit security, and I even had time for a quick visit to Avianca’s flagship lounge – which was pretty good.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.