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AEP-COR-JUJ-SLA-AEP on AerolíneasArgentinas/SouthernWinds

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  • AEP-COR-JUJ-SLA-AEP on AerolíneasArgentinas/SouthernWinds

    The Background to the Trip

    Last weekend was a holiday here in Argentina, hence my dad and I decided to pay a visit to some relatives we got in northwestern Jujuy province. We managed to find some good fares at Aerolíneas Argentinas and Southern Winds - Federales for our flights.

    Here I go. As always, enjoy your reading and sorry for the mistakes

    The Trip

    My dad and I arrived to Aeroparque at 09:30 and immediately headed for Aerolíneas Argentinas counters, which are shared with domestic subsidiary Austral. Together they have more than 20 counters, 5 for Club Cóndor (Business Class) and 15 for Clase Turista (Economy). We found an empty desk were we checked-in. We gave our tickets and in return we got two grey-and-blue-coloured boarding passes. Grey, white and blue are the new colours of Aerolíneas and Austral.

    After check-in we had some breakfast at one of the many cafés Aeroparque has before security. I had a coffee and a croissant while my dad made some last minute calls to his office. I bought a Clarín newspaper and then we decided it was time to pass through security, which took just a few moments. As soon as we were at the aiside, it was time for boarding. So we went to gate 12B. There was a small queue which went fast. Boarding was done through a jetway.

    Operator: Aerolíneas Argentinas
    From: Buenos Aires - Aeroparque Jorge Newbery (AEP / SABE)
    To: San Salvador de Jujuy - Doctor Horacio Guzmán (JUJ / SASJ)
    Via: Córdoba - Pajas Blancas (COR / SACO)
    Date: Friday, June 18th 2004
    Flight number: AR 1494
    Aircraft: Boeing 737-200
    Registration: LV-WTR
    Seat: 14A (Clase Turista - window)
    Estimated/Actual time of departure: 10:55/10:55 (GMT -3)
    Estimated/Actual time of arrival: 14:10/14:10 (GMT -3)

    While boarding we were greated by a female flight attendant and the male purser with a "Buen día" and a nice smile. At row 10 there was a male flight attendant helping passengers with their hand luggage. Even though we Argentines are famous for bringing trash into the cabin as "carry-on", this time everyone seemed to have just a small suitcase and a bag. I have seen much worse on domestic flights.

    While taxiing to runway 13, welcome security announcements were done. Both were in Spanish and English, the latter with a very "interesting" southern cone accent. To my surprise, the purser always called this flight as "Argentina 1494". It is the first time I hear a purser calling the flight by its callsign. I actually liked it.

    Take off was on time. We headed northwest towards Rosario city, where we again headed west, this time flying over Santa Fe and Córdoba provinces, to finally land at Córdoba city.

    Service started some 20 minutes after take off, while flying over Santa Fe province. It consisted on two ham-and-cheese sandwiches (sándwich de miga), a piece of bread and dulce de leche, our version of British tofee. Beverage's selection was lots of sodas, coffee, tea, beer and red and white wine. Nothing to complain about -- it's just what you expect on a 1:30 flight.

    The rest of the flight went uneventful, encountering some turbulences when entering Córdoba province. I spent my time reading my Clarín paper and chatting with my dad.

    Landing at Córdoba was average, perhaps a little bit bumpy. It was a very nice thing to see those reversors applied. While taxiing to the terminal, I saw a Germany-registered CRJ 200. I wonder what it was doing there.

    Almost half of the plane disembarked at Pajas Blancas airport. Passengers continuing to Jujuy were asked to remain on board. I went to the toilet and exchanged a few words with two female FAs, who were very sympathetic. We then were asked to go back to our seats, as we were going to load some petrol. After that, COR passengers boarded. Load factor in both AEP-COR and COR-JUJ legs was 100%. Understandable, since we were on a national holiday. All passengers at both Clase Turista and Club Cóndor were Argentines; not a single foreigner on board.

    At 11:35 we took off from Córdoba and started our second and last leg, this time to San Salvador de Jujuy. Man, that was a loooong take off! The longest I have experienced so far on a narrow-body. I guess we loaded lots of stuff at SACO, since temperature wasn't that high (22ºC).

    Route followed this time: we left Córdoba province by Villa Tulumba city and flew over Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Salta provinces before entering Jujuy province by Libertador General San Martín. Then we headed north towards JUJ.

    Service started while flying over Río Hondo (Santiago del Estero). It was the same one than AEP-COR. We also got some cookies. Actually, during service we experienced some turbulence. Nothing to worry about, but I believe in some other airlines (Lufthansa, KLM, Varig), service would have been suspended. This didn't happen at Aerolíneas.

    Landing at San Salvador de Jujuy was very smooth. Outside temperature was 25ºC and it was sunny, so it was perfect for disembarking through stairs. The airport doesn't have jetways.

    Since we didn't have anything but carry-on luggage, we just left the airport in a few minutes. My cousin and nephew were waiting for us and drove us to the city.

    Getting in and out San Salvador de Jujuy - Doctor Horacio Guzmán (JUJ / SASJ)

    SASJ is located 35 km south of the city of San Salvador de Jujuy, between Perico and Palpalá districts. Airport and city are connected through a highway. There are taxis from the airport and a journey to downtown Jujuy costs about 20 pesos (6.50 dollars). Do not haggle -- taxis have a clock which shows price. Buses are cheaper. I believe Balut Hermanos, Tacita de Plata and Cooperativa Matorras companies operate buses on an hourly-basis from Jujuy Bus Terminal (Terminal de Omnibuses). You'd better ask at the airport or at the Terminal de Omnibuses for accurated, updated information. Some hotels also offer transporstation from the hotel to the airport and back. Avis Car Rental has a stand at the arrivals area.

    The Return

    Another of my cousins and her husband drove my dad and I to the airport, where we arrived at 18:30. Check-in was done in a breeze at the empty Southern Winds - Federales counter. The agent was always smiling and gave us two pre-made boarding cards with the words "BUE - Buenos Aires" printed on them. I was surprised the boarding cars had a design of a CRJ 200, an aircraft Southern Winds doesn't operate since 1999.

    After check-in we went to the snack-bar for some cffee and after our flight was called twice, we decided it was time to go. We said bye-bye to them and passed security and the "ID check", were we had to show our ID cards. Everything took less than 4 minutes.

    Operator: Southern Winds - Federales Líneas Aéreas
    From: San Salvador de Jujuy - Doctor Horacio Guzmán (JUJ / SASJ)
    To: Buenos Aires - Aeroparque Jorge Newbery (AEP / SABE)
    Via: Salta - General Martín Miguel de Güemes (SLA / SASA)
    Date: Sunday, June 21st 2004
    Flight number: A4 6525
    Aircraft: Boeing 737-200
    Registration: LV-ACG "Región Noroeste"
    Seat: 06A (Economy - window)
    Estimated/Actual time of departure: 19:30/19:25 (GMT -3)
    Estimated/Actual time of arrival: 22:30/22:25 (GMT -3)

    Again we boarded through stairs. We were greeted by two gorgeous flight attendants with a "Buenas noches" and a smile. I should say SW's FAs are nicer than Aerolíneas's, which are itself nice. I found funny that the plane was named "Región Noroeste", since we were precisely there, in northwestern region.

    Seats are very comfortable onboard of this plane, and there are lots of room. Even more than on Aerolíneas, which is famous for its room.

    Flight to Salta only lasted 15 minutes and there wasn't any service (self-explained). We flew over the Sierras del Chañi and downtown Salta and San Lorenzo neighbourhood. Landing at SLA was good.

    I was astonished some 40 passengers of 50 who boarded at JUJ disembarked at Salta. Apparently SW is offering some very good prices for this route. Those who left at Salta did it through a jetway. During our stay at General Güemes airport petrol was loaded, therefore we had to remain seated. I didn't mind since I spent the whole time reading a magazine I bought at Jujuy.

    At 20:30 we left Salta for Buenos Aires. I must thank the Captain for the big information he gave after take off, including our route, temperature at destination and some other useful stuff, e.g. what would service consist of. Re the route: we flew over Salta, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero and Santa Fe provinces, before entering Buenos Aires province by San Nicolás de los Arroyos. We then headed East to Buenos Aires city and finally Aeroparque.

    Service consisted on a sandwich and some pastries, about the same than Aerolíneas. Also beverages were about the same, except for beer, which was Isenbeck and not Quilmes.

    Landing at Aeroparque was very good, even a few minutes before scheduled time. We disembarked through stairs (all jetways were taken) and we managed to leave the airport only 10 minutes after having landed.

    The Verdict

    Overall, a great weekend with my family and two great flights. Aerolíneas was once again excellent, leaving/ arriving on time and with great service. I was very well surprised by Southern Winds - Federales. They're offering a solid product which people like. I wish them all the best. I wouldn't hesitate on flying any of these airlines anytime, at least on domestic flights.

    Thank you for reading and, again, sorry for the mistakes. Comments are more than welcome!

    Cheers
    Marcos

  • #2
    Great report as usual Marcos! Enjoyed a lot reading it.

    Comment


    • #3
      Great report, specially because I use to fly to COR, SLA and JUJ, always by AR.

      Because it was a brief stop, you hadn't got the chance to see the SLA terminal. It is very nice, bigger than you can expect for SLA. Last days there were complains from "tucumanos" (people from Tucuman) who said that SLA became in the most important airport of the region. Numbers says that it is true. LB and LA (on summer) operates on SLA. Brasilian carriers (I guess RG or JJ) are interested on flights GRU-IGR-SLA-ANF on winter/summer.
      AR had plans to install the AR's NW Hub on SLA too.

      Good report again

      Comment


      • #4
        Marcos, your report is amazing. I always enjoy reading your report. Good Luck, Cheers

        Comment


        • #5
          Thanks all for your comments!

          Originally posted by mtorello
          Because it was a brief stop, you hadn't got the chance to see the SLA terminal. It is very nice, bigger than you can expect for SLA. Last days there were complains from "tucumanos" (people from Tucuman) who said that SLA became in the most important airport of the region. Numbers says that it is true. LB and LA (on summer) operates on SLA. Brasilian carriers (I guess RG or JJ) are interested on flights GRU-IGR-SLA-ANF on winter/summer.
          AR had plans to install the AR's NW Hub on SLA too.
          For what I could see from the aircraft, SLA seems to be a nice airport. I'd have to pay a visit to it someday. Perhaps if there is a big price gap between flights to Jujuy and Salta I'll take off from there. As for now, prices vary in about 10 pesos, so I will continue going to JUJ in a near future.

          Salta has become the capital of Northwestern Region (NOA). The city is 700.000 inhabitants and economy in that province has been growing at very high rates. I still recall a few years back there wasn't big difference between Salta and Jujuy. Nowadays, Salta has got a mall (Alto NOA), a better airport and good tourist facilities. Tourism both national and international is booming at Salta. The province has become a must for people travelling to Argentina. I am not at all for Governor Juan Carlos Romero, but we must admit he's done a good job on that one. Also Salta Government has been doing lots of advertising nationwide. Last winter's "Los chicos no pagan" (Children don't pay hotel, food and get ridiculous prices at air tickets) offer was one of the most intelligent moves Argentinian tourism has done so far.

          I can understand tucumanos feeling. San Miguel de Tucumán had been NOA's capital for almost a century, but now Salta took the place. While Governor Antonio Bussi was busy dilapidating Tucumán's money, Romero family (dad and son) kept on advertising Salta as a touristic hot spot and a safe place for investments. It worked. And now we are able to see the results.

          That's just my personal opinion.

          Cheers
          Marcos

          Comment


          • #6
            Nice trip report... since i went to argentina i wondered, why airlines in argentina dont have IFE if argentina is such a large country where flightimes are soo long?

            ...i know that money is the first to come in mind...but if AR is doing so well why doesn't it install IFE in their cabotaje planes?

            Comment

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