An article by Chloe L, added on 14 March 2023 2 min. reading
Opened in 1953, the Paris-Bogota line operated by Air France celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. Going from 66 passengers departing from Orly to more than 300 today from CDG, the line has evolved a lot!
Paris-Bogota, a constantly evolving line
This line linking France to the Colombian capital was inaugurated in 1953 at Paris Orly airport. At that time, it took 24 hours of flight and 4 stopovers (Lisbon – Santa Maria – Fort-de-France – Caracas) for the 66 passengers of the Lockheed Constellation to arrive at their destination.
En 1960, Air France switches to the Boeing 707 with a capacity of 179 passengers. The flight then lasts 16h50 and makes 3 stopovers (Lisbon – Pointe-à-Pitre – Caracas) before arriving in Bogota.
Must wait 1977 so that the line starts from theParis Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport (COG 1). The chartered plane is then a Boeing 747-100 which allows the 319 passengers to connect Paris to Bogota in just 12 hours, via Caracas.
En 1996, CDG terminal 2A receives this flight. Air France opts for an Airbus A340-300 with a capacity of 275 passengers. This time that's it, the flight is direct between Paris and Bogota and it only takes 10h50.
It will be necessary to wait 2013 to see screens appear in planes. And in 2018, Air France changed planes again for a Boeing 787. 70 years later, in 2023, Air France is celebrating the success of this route and plans to switch to an Airbus A350-900 on March 26. This aircraft will have 324 seats, 17,4% more than its predecessor. With this increase, Air France wants to show the strength of its link with Colombia. The platform cirium even provides that Air France will be the 2nd European airline in Colombia, after Iberia, by the summer of 2023.
