Avior Airlines

✅ Verified Review | I had the misfortune of flying Avior Airlines from Barcelona (Venezuela) to Miami on 8th November. Flight was scheduled to take off at 1630 and land at 1910. I had a connection at 2215 in Turkish airlines to Istanbul and then to Singapore. Just before boarding airlines announced a technical snag and announced a delay. I understand that such a scenario is possible with any airline, but what followed was traumatic for me. I asked the ground staff should I cancel my flight to Singapore for which they checked with their station manager in Miami and confirmed to me that, they will make arrangements to put me on next flight under their responsibility. They categorically told me that if I cancel from my end, no help will be extended from their side. Believing them, (should never have) I flew to Miami. Needless to say when I landed I was left high and dry with no one to help, no hotel stay and of course no flight tickets. On fighting with them, the whole day, they came with an excuse that time difference between two international flights should be 3 hour and 30 mins against my 3 hour and 5 mins. When i asked them for IATA rules or their company rules stating the same, they were unsuccessful in producing both.

I often fly PMV-BLA-MIA on 9V mostly in Business Class 4-5 times a year. Overall performance has improved a lot compared to 2012 when delays of 2-3 hrs were common. They now use ex-US Airways B-737-400 for their international routes including Miami and Panama-Tocumen. FA's are average or above depends on the crew you got on your specific flight. Food in Business Class is below average but you can eat it. Drink service is way below average only soft drinks and water offered in Business Class. On return flight MIA-BLA they give you Whisky no wine no sparkling water nothing. Check-in in PMV takes an hour or so since they fill out the passenger list for MIA manually. Transit in BLA is quite easy no long walking distances BUT broken escalators for over a year now disgusting. On your return flight you have to claim your luggage in BLA what is kind of funny since there is no luggage belt. Suitcases are thrown through a hole in the wall into bag claim hall. Seating in business class is fairly comfortable (old US domestic first class) in coach very narrow seats low pitch uncomfortable for flights 1 hr or more. No inflight entertainment. Safety briefing in both Spanish and English. Because fares are much lower than on AA or Delta it s my first choice to the US. And when originating in PMV you don t have to go through Maiquetia which is a mess and waste of time.

BLA-CCS. Avior are basic but no worse than many European budget airlines. Seats are small but the flight from Barcelona to Caracas is only 30-40 minutes so not much time to feel uncomfortable and there is a free drinks service even on this short flight. There's no real reason not to fly Avior. However the check-in luggage maximum is only 20 kgs so if carrying a heavy suitcase you may prefer flying Conviasa (30 kgs) which is usually a little more expensive but allows more luggage and is usually somewhat more comfortable too.

PMV-BLA recently on a Beech 1900 aircraft I can call it an intensive flying experience in this small turboprop plane! Anyhow the cabin appeared to be as a bit filthy and quite dirty. All in all not really remarkable.

Again Avior and disapointed but its the only carrier operating between Trinidad W.I. and Isla Margarita. They recently cancelled the operation of the old B732 (except public Holidays and long weekends in Trinidad) into a small 19 seater Turboprop Beech Aircraft. No washroom on this Aircraft and no FA's. The only safety instruction was a lousy tape in Spanish. Only English speaking Trinis on board. Return flight we were told that the flight is delayed from 9am to 12noon (maybe) because of technical problems in Barcelona (Venezuela). Actually the flight came in 2PM and after again 2 hrs we were able to board the flight. The ground staff from Avior was helpful and organized for other passenger to get baggage in the terminal to feed small children and change clothes. We arrived safe back in Trinidad but still worries about the standard and safety of this airline.

Trinidad W.I. POS to Isla Margarita (Polarmar). Check in was very convenient at POS Terminal. Avior opened 3 Counter for approx 120 Passenger. All Pax checked in approx in 25 Min. The Aircraft arrived only 20 Minutes delayed because of bad weather. On board the service was above my expectations. Even on this short flight of 45 Min they served a snack and 2 times softdrinks. Avior leased the aircraft with business and econ. configuration but offers only eco class. The AC an older B737-200 was in quite good conditions and boading the AC we had the chance to see into the cargo/baggage holds and got a positive impression. Only situation worries me was the lack of language skills of the cabin crew. During the demonstration of the safety features the lady showed the use of the life vests and the only english skills attendant explained same time the oxygen masks. We believed that she had no clou what her co worker was talking about. Most of the passengers had lots of fun during the bad safety demo but I thought what happens in a case of emergency? Most of the passenger from Trinidad have no spanish skills and wouldnt be able to understand the instructions from the FAs. Returning from Margarita we were shocked seeing the chaotic situation at the Airport. No real information how the system runs. Endless waiting infront of several check points and finally we arrived at the departure gates. Same time Avior departed to POS and SATA to Martinique. No correct information what line is the correct one. At the end they just let all passenger thru and we had to find our way to the AC on our own. No Ground Staff to guide the passenger on the runfield. Finally we departed 1 hr late due to bad co ordination of ground staff and had a quite flight back to Trinidad W.I. Over all the airline is OK and the service much better than other local airlines. Safetywise i would recommend not to travel if ur unable to understand spanish.