Summary
- On July 4, avianca arrived in France after its last flight there landed in 2001.
- This summer, its Paris CDG-Bogotá service departs at the unusual time of 08:40.
- It is among the earliest daytime Europe-South America passenger flights.
After more than 20 years, avianca has returned to Paris CDG. It has a five weekly service from Bogotá on the Boeing 787-8, becoming the Star Alliance member’s seventh European route this summer.
Earliest daytime flights
Several Europe-South America routes depart between midnight and 02:30, which this article ignores as they are not during the daytime. Instead, it focuses on departures between 06:00 and 09:30 from July to September. The list now includes avianca from Paris to Colombia.
According to Cirium data, when all airlines are combined, Europe-South America has an average of 97 daily flights (each way). The most popular departure time is 23:55. A considerable 57% more services leave then than at 13:00, the second most common time. Only 4% of departures will go between 06:00 and 09:30, the examined period.
Only July-September is considered here; the situation will differ at other times. No flight after 09:30 is included. The airlines mentioned only relate to the flights before 09:30. For example, while Air France also operates Paris CDG-Bogotá, flights leave at 15:25, so they are omitted.
|
Departure time from Europe (local; 06:00-09:30 and July-Sept only) |
Routing |
Airline (flights; aircraft ordered by services) |
|---|---|---|
|
07:40 (some are at 08:00) |
Barcelona-Buenos Aires |
Level (three weekly; A330-200) |
|
08:20 (one is at 09:00; others are later) |
Paris Orly-São Paulo Viracopos/Campinas |
Azul (only seven departures before 09:30; A330neo) |
|
08:30 (others are later) |
Lisbon-Brasilia |
TAP Air Portugal (Tuesday only at 08:30; A330neo) |
|
08:40 |
Paris CDG-Bogotá |
avianca (five weekly; 787-8) |
|
08:45 (others are later) |
Madrid-Buenos Aires |
Iberia (three weekly at 08:45; A350-900) |
|
08:55 (and at 09:25, 09:30, and later) |
Lisbon-São Paulo Guarulhos |
LATAM (five to six weekly by 09:30; 777-300ER) |
|
08:55 (others are later) |
Lisbon-Belo Horizonte |
TAP Air Portugal (Tuesday only at 08:55; A330neo/A330-200) |
|
09:00 (others are later) |
Lisbon-Caracas |
TAP Air Portugal (just five flights on Thursdays at 09:00; A330neo/A330-200) |
|
09:10 (and at 09:20; others are later) |
Amsterdam-Paramaribo |
KLM (up to four weekly; 777-200ER/777-300ER) |
|
09:10 (others are later) |
Lisbon-São Paulo Guarulhos |
TAP Air Portugal (just two (!)* departures at 09:10; A330neo) |
|
09:30 (others are later) |
Madrid-Buenos Aires |
AerolÃneas Argentinas (daily at 09:30; A330-200) |
|
** July 22, 29 |
On July 2,
Flightradar24
showed that SWISS had one departure from Zurich to São Paulo Guarulhos at 07:45. The reason is unclear, but as it had the flight number LX7092 (as opposed to that route’s usual flight number of LX92), it was presumably a charter or a positioning flight for some reason.
TAP: Lisbon-Caracas
In the past, multiple European airlines served the Venezuelan capital. The country’s dire economic problems, the inability of airlines to get money out, significant currency depreciation, and more mean they no longer fly there.
Aside from Turkish Airlines, TAP Air Portugal is the only non-Spanish or Venezuelan carrier that serves that market. Its presence is driven by the many people of Portuguese heritage living in Venezuela, and it connects passengers across Europe via its Lisbon hub.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
TAP has two to three weekly Lisbon-Caracas flights between July and September, primarily on the A330neo, but also on the A330-200. While most departures from Portugal are at either 12:30 or 15:20, there are five at 09:00, which arrive in South America at 12:40 local time. They operate on July 4 (the day of writing), 11, 18, 25, and August 1.