REVIEW: LATAM flight 2419 Rio to Lima

Flight: LA 2417
Route: Rio de Janeiro (GIG) – Lima, Peru (LIM)
Date: Thursday, 7 March 2020
Depart: 6:55 PM
Arrive: 10:45 PM
Duration: 5 hr 50 min
Aircraft: Airbus 319
Seat: 7 B & C (Economy Class)
Cost: part of a multidestination ticket AU$2,105 (destinations include: IGU-GIG-LIM-CUZ-LIM-UIO-LIM).

Introduction

Now, I have to be honest with you. This is going to be a sketchy review. The reason is that this was one of those ‘nether days’ in travel. It was kind of an enforced break in a so-far hectic trip. We only had one thing to do, and that was travel in the afternoon between Rio and Lima, Peru on a flight a little under 6 hours, and then spend the night in a fairly anonymous airport hotel. It was one of those days where we seemingly did nothing, but it was very exhausting.

The consequence is that I kind of zoned out on the flight, dozing for most of it. Hence my notes are sketchy verging on the non-existent, and I forgot to get photographs of the meal, or indeed much of anything.

Bearing that in mind, here goes.

At the Airport

We had spent about 1.5 hours in the AA Admirals Lounge at the airport, one of the nicest ‘American’ lounges I have visited. About 30 minutes before our flight, we headed down to the gate, at the extension to Terminal 2.

Boarding

Boarding was efficient. Is it just me, but do South American flight staff just look more gorgeous than most?

A bit of plane-porn outside out window, with this Lufthansa B747 next door.

LATAM and affiliates seem to run a large fleet of A319’s, as this was the most common plane type on all our internal South American flights.

Here are our seats, and we were lucky enough to have the row to ourselves. Note that there is no screen back entertainment.

The Seat

These were pretty no-nonsense leather covered economy seats. Blankets were provided, along with in-flight magazine.

LATAM runs two layouts in its A319s, one with Premium Economy (middle seat blocked) in the first three rows and Economy. In Premium, the seat pitch is 34, with 20 inch width. The seat pitch in Economy is 30 inches, with an 18 inch seat width. In the alternate layout, there are Premium Economy, LATAM+ and Economy seats, all have 29 inch pitch, and 18 inch seat width, although pitch can edge closer to 30 inch in Premium.

This aircraft was in the two class configuration.

Pillows and blankets were provided, which I needed on this 5 hour plus flight.

The cabin hardly even has a galley at the front of the plane, given that it only has partial bulkheads.

We got that weird condensation once the air conditioning started up. I associate this with the humidity of tropical Asia, but I suppose it can happen anywhere given the right conditions.

In-flight Service

Not a lot to speak of. No alcohol, which was a surprise. We were exhausted given our ‘transit’ day, so dozed for most of the flight. I know this will sound snobbish, but normally, we would book business class for anything longer than about 3 hours. When we looked into this for the flight, we couldn’t really justify the increased cost of Premium Economy over ordinary Economy, and there was not a lot of apparent service difference, so I am glad we stuck with economy.

I include the above shot, in case you want to know how to write ‘fasten your seat belt while seated’ or ‘Life vest under your seat in Spanish.

Toilet

Amenites were pretty basic. Toilet facilities, a bit ageing, but kept perfectly clean, and up to their task.

That plastic faux granite bench top and sink material never looks clean, and never looks real. Airbus, you need to re-imagine this.

Arrival

We arrived on time, but were not met by our guide at the Airport. We waited in arrivals for a while, but given that we could see the hotel across the road, and signage on how to get there, we headed over there ourselves. It turned out we had missed Antonio at the airport. We caught up with him later at the bar of the Costa Del Sol Wyndham Airport Hotel.

2PAXfly Takeout

This is another timely reminder to wear your seatbelt when seated. Holding you close to your seat will protect you from the sort of injuries sustained on this flight, when unsecured passengers flew to the ceiling of the aircraft, and then came crashing down once the ‘drop’ ceased.

The hope will be that this is an anomaly – a ‘freak accident’ in casual parlance. If it is a systemic error either mechanical or electronic, then this is a larger concern for the airlines that fly Boeing Dreamliner 787 aircraft. Let’s hope it isn’t. If it is, it will pile on the woes to Boeing’s existing stack.

Not my favourite flight of our trip. Nearly 6 hours in economy is long for me these days. Fortunately, it was an early evening flight, so dozing was the best option. The flight was comfortable, although no alcoholic beverages was a surprise on such a long flight.

As I said this was a netherworld travel day – we felt like we where nowhere, but on the way to somewhere else.

Next morning, we would be off to one of the highlights of our trip – Cuzco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu!