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Update 7 December 2018: During last night’s schedule update Avianca restored Dreamliner service from 1 July 2019
This should definitely be filed under “developing” but if you’re a West Coast flyer who has recently bought (or is thinking about buying) a stash of LifeMiles in the current sale you may need to pay attention to this.
RoutesOnline has noticed that, in a recent schedule update, Avianca appears to be preparing to change the aircraft it had scheduled to operate between Los Angeles and Bogota in Summer 2019.
Avianca flys a daily service between Bogota and Los Angeles and the route is currently operated by one of the airline’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners.
Up until now there hasn’t been any sign of this changing but the latest schedule update doesn’t make for good reading.
As of 1 July the Bogota – Los Angeles sector is set to be operated by an Airbus A330…..
….and, as the seatmap on Avianca.com clearly shows, this isn’t a reconfigured Avianca A330 with the airline’s new Business Class seats – it’s an older aircraft with an outdated premium cabin:
The Avianca Dreamliners (and the few reconfigured A330 that the airline operates) have a very nice Business Class cabin with reverse herringbone seating offering all-aisle-access for all passengers.
This is what a modern international Business Class cabin should look like but it’s definitely not what’s on offer in the airline’s A330.
The un-reconfigured A330s that Avianca operates offer a Business Class cabin with angle-flat seating set out in a 2-2-2 layout and that’s just about as far away from what the Dreamliner offers as it’s possible to get nowadays.
Put simply, while Avianca’s 787 Business Class cabins are suited to 2019 travel, it’s un-reconfigured A330 are more suited to 2005.
If you were expecting to fly in the Dreamliner’s Business Class cabin and you actually flew in an un-configured A330 you’d be very disappointed.
I should stress that these are early days right now and we’re still over half a year away from when the A330 looks like it’s taking over the Bogota – Los Angeles route….so a lot can change.
Avianca may update the schedule again and keep the Dreamliner flying between LA and Colombia or, if an A330 does actually appear on this route, it may end up being a reconfigured aircraft and not a relic that flys the route….but it’s worth keeping an eye on this.
While using LifeMiles purchased in the latest sale may be put to good use on the Avianca Dreamliner, I can think of a LOT of better uses for them than the older Avianca A330s.
