Colombia’s long-standing flag carrier Avianca has been operating for more than 100 years. Inflight Editor Satu Dahl reports.
This article, “The Best of Colombia” was originally published by Satu Dahl, in the November/December ‘24 issue of Inflight. To read more articles like this from our magazine, apply for your complimentary subscription to Inflight.
Colombian airline Avianca is renewing its passenger experience, with the carrier announcing in April this year that it will be providing a multitude of shiny new features in its Business Class cabins.
These include the “Avianca Insignia” being available on the carrier’s Boeing 787 twin-aisle aircraft on board business class flights to and from Europe.
The experience offers fully reclining flatbed seating, as well as a welcome drink, menu with starters, breakfast, lunch or dinner options with dessert, unlimited snacks and a selection of spirits and hot and cold drinks.
When it comes to amenities, a blanket, mattress pad and an amenity kit are offered with unique collectible cases designed by Mola Sasa in collaboration with the Gunadule indigenous community, made from recycled PET bottle fabric, as well as Loto del Sur beauty brand products that celebrate and capture the richness of Colombian culture.
Manuel Ambriz, Avianca’s Chief Commercial Officer, says Avianca Insignia represents the consolidation of a superior experience in the carrier’s Boeing 787.
“These Bogotá to Europe flights also feature a unique design, gastronomy and wellness selection representing the best of Colombia: a menu by chef Álvaro Clavijo – one of the top 35 in the world – and a leading brand amenity kit.”
Clavijo currently runs the Bogotá restaurant El Chato, which has been selected as one of the best in the world by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
All aboard Americas – Business class upgrades on cabin interiors and route schedules
Changes are also happening on board the carrier’s A320 family single-aisle aircraft.
In Business Class for flights from Bogotá to the American continent, from July this year, a new version of Business Class has been offered in the first three rows on flights from Bogotá to Santiago de Chile, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, Miami, Washington, New York, Boston, Toronto and Mexico City.
The carrier has also announced that from December Avianca’s Business Class Americas will be extended to 23 additional routes, bringing the total to 34 routes offering this service within the continent.
This business class seating offers greater recline, more space, adjustable headrests, charging ports and other comfort features.
Passengers are provided with complimentary meals, beverages and access to Avianca’s on-board entertainment system, Avianca On Air, from their personal devices.
The carrier also offers Business Class experience on flights operated by the Boeing 787 Dreamliner on select frequencies between Bogotá and New York JFK, Miami, São Paulo, Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile.
Catalina Nannig, Avianca’s Vice President of Sales, shares some more details about the development.
She says: “The expansion of Business Class availability across the Americas strengthens the positioning of this experience, which is built on a commitment to delivering high-quality service in every detail, offering exceptional journeys.
“An example of this is the inclusion of comfort features and a menu, which on most flights departing from Bogotá has been designed by renowned Colombian chef Álvaro Clavijo.”
The experience offers fully reclining flatbed seating, as well as a welcome drink, menu with starters, breakfast, lunch or dinner options with dessert, unlimited snacks and a selection of spirits and hot and cold drinks.
When it comes to amenities, a blanket, mattress pad and an amenity kit are offered with unique collectible cases designed by Mola Sasa in collaboration with the Gunadule indigenous community, made from recycled PET bottle fabric, as well as Loto del Sur beauty brand products that celebrate and capture the richness of Colombian culture.
Manuel Ambriz, Avianca’s Chief Commercial Officer, says Avianca Insignia represents the consolidation of a superior experience in the carrier’s Boeing 787.
“These Bogotá to Europe flights also feature a unique design, gastronomy and wellness selection representing the best of Colombia: a menu by chef Álvaro Clavijo – one of the top 35 in the world – and a leading brand amenity kit.”
Clavijo currently runs the Bogotá restaurant El Chato, which has been selected as one of the best in the world by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Avianca’s Business Class in Europe. Image: Avianca
Greener future – Environmentally conscious travelling
For routes within the Americas, customers travelling in economy class can purchase food and drinks from the carrier’s Café del Cielo for an additional cost, paying with credit or debit card.
Avianca says it offers more than 15 complementary products and services that customers can choose to personalise their experience and travel as they like, both in the air and for use at their destination.
These include additional baggage, sports baggage, seat selection, priority boarding, upgrades, access to Avianca lounges, travel assistance, transfers, and more.
Customers can purchase these up to one hour before their flight departure.
Avianca boasts an impressive reduction in carbon emissions per passenger transported, having reported a 26 per cent decline in 2023 compared to 2019, together with a 21 per cent decrease in absolute emissions over the same period.
The carrier’s environmental initiatives include offsetting nearly 700,000 tons of carbon dioxide by supporting projects in Colombia through the purchase of carbon credits.
An additional 87.5 tons of carbon dioxide were offset by customers and employees through the CHOOOSE platform and the airline has also implemented 24 fuel-saving initiatives, resulting in the prevention of 71,256 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Another noteworthy environmental project saw Avianca transport 11,843 kg of waste from the Galápagos Islands.
“This award reflects the effort and dedication of our teams in providing top-tier services to our members. We are deeply grateful for their loyalty and continuous support.“
Valeria Yglesias, Chief Commercial Officer of Avianca LifeMiles
Using miles for good – Initiatives for Avianca’s passengers
When it comes to social welfare, Avianca’s loyalty program, LifeMiles, runs a “Miles Bank” initiative that has benefitted over 14,000 people in regions such as Cauca, La Guajira, Amazonas and Nariño.
The programme involves voluntary contributions of nearly 4.5 million miles from LifeMiles’ partners, as well as contributions from Avianca.
This has resulted in over 470 tickets being issued to technical and medical personnel, enabling them to travel to these regions and provide aid to vulnerable communities.
Beyond supporting social welfare through initiatives like the Miles Bank, Avianca LifeMiles also provides its members with a wide range of opportunities to earn miles for their own travels.
Members can accumulate miles by flying with Avianca and the 26 member airlines of Star Alliance, or through the Avianca LifeMiles American Express card, which offers up to 100,000 welcome bonus miles with a minimum spend.
The programme recently won the 2024 Frequent Traveler Awards’ Best Customer Service award, voted by over 3.4 million frequent travellers and adding to the programme’s many other awards.
Avianca says the latest award underscores LifeMiles’ leadership in the loyalty industry and its commitment to enhancing the travel experience for its members.
Valeria Yglesias, Chief Commercial Officer of Avianca LifeMiles, said: “It is an honour to receive this award on behalf of Avianca and LifeMiles at the Frequent Traveler Awards, which consolidates our regional position as the most awarded loyalty programme in Latin America, with 21 different international recognitions in the last 13 years.
“This award reflects the effort and dedication of our teams in providing top-tier services to our members. We are deeply grateful for their loyalty and continuous support. We remain committed to offering the best benefits in the industry, enabling every LifeMiles member to travel more and travel better.”
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Avianca prides itself on the redemption value of its LifeMiles scheme, for which it has won numerous awards. Left, the carrier is commited to enhancing the travel experience for members.
Sweet spots – Consumer incentives for airline customer loyalty
Inflight spoke exclusively with Valeria Yglesias following the announcement.
She explained that as one of the biggest programmes in South America, LifeMiles has more than 13 million members and is represented in many different markets.
“We’ve been able to tailor the programme to the specifics of the markets where we are very big – in Colombia, in Central America. We’ve also been able to establish a very respected position in the loyalty area in the US.”
Yglesias also highlighted the importance of redemption options, saying: “We have great redemption value, which is the most important part of a programme, right?
“You can have hundreds of ways to earn miles, but if your redemption value is wrong it’s not solid. We have won, many times throughout the years, the best redemption ability in different awards.
“We find a lot of sweet spots in our redemptions, especially for Star Alliance partners. Our miles are the strongest ones within Star Alliance.”
Yglesias said the airline is very proud that it was able to win the best customer service for a loyalty programme in all the Americas. “All of those American programmes that we know are very good, so that makes us very proud.”
Naturally, qualifying miles can be earned in a variety of ways, which include flying with Avianca or its Star Alliance partners, making purchases with co-branded cards, subscribing to Club LifeMiles and staying at partner hotels.
Yglesias explained that members can also top up miles up to 90 per cent. “So, even if members just have 10 per cent of the miles for redemption, they can be topped up by 90 per cent.”
The carrier’s Elite programme for the most frequent travellers offers a host of additional benefits and members can achieve one of Elite’s four statuses: Red Plus, Silver, Gold and Diamond.
Elite members are offered valuable benefits such as priority boarding, additional baggage allowances and access to exclusive promotions.
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