Bogota Airport

Not Verified | We had high hopes that the new El Dorado terminal would avoid the inconvenience of parking and/or boarding from "remote stations", but instead, it has become more frequent than ever. It is not nice at all to land after a long flight and be forced into buses that do not leave for the termina until there is not one inch left to stand up among other passengers. An then, a "courtesy tour" all around the worst parts of the airport before getting to the terminal, very far from the connecting gates. It's really a torture. How come people rate this airport among the 30 best? It doesn't deserve it.

Not Verified | During my recent vacation to Colombia (and Peru), I arrived at BOG twice internationally, once domestically, and departed internationally twice and domestically once. The arrival process each time whether Puente Aereo or Terminal 1 was efficient, hassle-free. Departure domestically at Terminal One was slow; international departure towards LIM was slower; international departure to USA was absurdly ridiculous, slow, inefficient, rude and inattentive service. The main culprit in this negative experience is the unfriendly ticket agents at Avianca. We arrived about 2 hours, 45 minutes before departure, immediately, queuing in the economy check-in line. There could not have been more than 60-75 persons ahead of us in line; there were 9 agents working the counters; yet it took 1 hour 45 minutes to get to the counter! That averages over 12.5 minutes to process each passenger; that is slow. Most of the staff could be seen checking their cell phones, texting. The only staff exhibiting any urgency were the once calling for passengers for Quito, San Salvador and Guatemala City that might miss their flight. Once we checked our luggage and received our boarding passes we needed to go through security, emigration, hopefully get a bite to eat and maybe buy a last minute souvenir. In security and was seated while my mom and I (Colombian-born USA citizens with pre-1990 USA naturalization certificates) were detained and hassled. Emigration officer insisted on reading every single immigration/emigration stamp in my 10-year old passport! We exited security with barely 15 minutes before our flight was called. The food court at BOG is close to security but far from our gate. From our trip to LIM we knew that the rest of the eateries were few and blah. I managed 2 quick purchases including water and chocolate to hold us over until in flight meal. If you fly out of BOG, avoid Avianca! I used to love this airline, but their BOG staff is worse than CCS, AUA, SJU, and other hassling airports. I have been in and out of BLR and BOM airports in India and they beat BOG with better customer service, less hassling. As a departing comment, we complained to both Avianca and to El Dorado through social media. Not even a response, apology or explanation.

Not Verified | Airport is fine. What is unimaginable for an experienced global traveller is how backward, inefficient and stressful the immigration process is. This is a country that should be bending over backwards for tourism and instead they treat all travellers like convicted felons. No fewer than 5 passport checks and details including entry dates and locations etc etc. The lineup for departing immigration was over 1 hour long and the attitude of the officers is they couldn’t care less who was missing a flight. More like 1970’s USSR than where this country should be given its excellent attractions.

✅ Trip Verified | Bogota airport is a state of the art, middle sized airport. It is clean, modern, and efficient. Its reasonable size make it easy and fast to navigate through. Recently, the airport inaugurated new spaces in the international terminal. There is now a great restaurant selection with high quality food and service. In addition to the companies and alliances lounges, the airport now has its own "El Dorado" lounge, and wow! What a beautiful lounge! Very spacious, beautifully decorated, with meeting rooms, gaming room, kids room, barber, restaurant (for an extra USD 4, which is incredibly cheap), relaxing chairs, comfortable sofas, a decent self service buffet. In front of Gate 47, if I am not mistaken. The lounge is available with a fee or with PriorityPass membership. I always found security check rather quick and efficient, migration services (both exiting and entering the country) relatively quick, and luggage reception usually very efficient (with some rare hiccups). Luggage check can be slow though, but I think agents have to deal with a lot of overweight luggage. The shopping area is pretty good too, although I will confess I rarely spend a lot of time shopping since I believe prices are usually on par or even higher than in regular shops or online shops.

❎ Unverified | El Dorado Bogota is modern, well-organised and clean. Things can get a bit slow at check in and baggage claim, but the speed of security and passport checks more than make up for it. Good shopping options, easy to navigate, it's closer in quality to European airports than to American airports.

✅ Verified Review | I don't understand how this airport is rated the best in South America? The airport does not have enough boarding bridges for the number of planes arriving and departing, therefore having to use buses with the rain and cold weather in Bogota is not convenient. The internet has never worked properly.

✅ Verified Review | I would advise that you allow over two hours to transfer in this airport. At Passport control I accidentally queued in the wrong queue and when I eventually got to the front the man told me to queue again in the huge queue. I pointed out I would then miss my connection and he said he didn't care. Obviously I did miss my connection and had a less than ideal eight hours overnight until the next flight. The actual airport is great but watch out for passport control - they are slow, ineffective and are mostly rude!

I have been using the new El Dorado airport since it was opened. Hopefully they will finish the new concourses so it will be an excellent airport. The only thing that I have noticed over all these years is the regular maintenance - now you see a lot of dirty windows, the entrance is dirty, some stores play music at a very high volume, carpets are dirty and a lot of light bulbs do not work. Hopefully the administration will pay attention and fix these irregularities so we can continue enjoying traveling thru this airport.

This review is for the domestic terminal at Bogota airport used by Avianca. This terminal is called "Puente Aereo". The building is very near to the main terminal. It is connected by a courtesy bus shuttle outside the terminal and one inside for connecting passengers. The signs are not clear enough so it is better to ask the airline ground staff after landing. The walking distance between the two terminals is from 8 to 10 minutes at normal speed. Note that airport courtesy wheelchairs are not transferable from one terminal to another. Meaning that you have to return the wheelchair at the same spot you receive it. For check in there are regular lines, business class, Star Alliance Gold and automated kiosks. Some basic restaurants and cafeterias are available. Don't expect to find seats if the airport is closed because of bad weather. The lounge for Avianca business and Star Alliance is located in the second floor. Note that there are no announcements to board your flight. If you are in a wheelchair as it was my case, remind the staff that you are waiting for assistance otherwise the flight will depart without you, as almost happened to me. The way from gate to plane is not far. It is not an enclosed corridor so better to carry a jacket to protect yourself from wind or cold.

This review about Eldorado Airport in Bogotá is about services and access from parking or taxi stand for handicapped passengers. Due to a surgery on my feet I needed a wheelchair from parking to the airline counter. There is not much information about this kind of service on their website. Passengers who need this kind of assistance must be with a person able to go to the information boot in the departure level, in front of Entrance #5. A document is needed to hire the wheelchair. The document will be given back as soon as the wheelchair is returned to the boot. The wheelchairs are simple for ordinary handicapped, not for severely handicapped passengers. As with any airline passengers must call in advance to book a wheelchair to go from the counter to the gate. Eldorado airport also assists the service from airline counter to the gate. Staff are very professional, and punctual, however be aware that some of them may not speak English.