Boliviana de Aviacion

I have booked 4 flights in a span of over a month. And flew in between Santa cruz and La Paz. La paz and Tarija via Cochabamba. Tarija and Santa Cruz. It is the worst airline website I have used. Approx 30% of the times it doesn't load or it gives you a "error, try later". Price if compared to Europe is ok. Flying experience - they are very thorough about the emergency exit security, which is a good thing. But if your flight has a stop over, beware - you will be asked to exit the aircraft, exit the transit area, go outside do the security again and board another flight.

We were supposed to fly LPB-SRE in mid-July but a blockade on the road caused us (and quite a few others) to miss our flight. We went to the BOA office in La Paz and were able to rebook without change fees. Only paid the fare difference. Finally flew out on the 18th but had a several hour delay out of La Paz. While this was not handled all that well by the ground staff this seemed to be par for the course - every other flight we have been on this year (in the USA) has had delays. Boarding was easy. Once the flight was announced, everyone just lined up and boarded. None of the convuluted boarding typical of airlines in the US and it only took about 15 minutes to board the plane. Since checked bags are free, there was no hassle for overhead space. Plane was economy class only with decent seat pitch. No extra charge to choose seats. Despite being a short flight, cabin crew came around with a complementary snack box and beverages. Plane was an older 737 but in reasonable shape and clean - I have flown in much more dilapidated planes on the legacy carriers. We had made a mistake on our booking for the return but were able to call BOA and rebook for the next day. Again, only paid the fare difference, in this case about US$8 each. Return flights (with connection in Cochabamba) were on time and the crew managed a snack service with drinks on the 35 minute flight from Cochabamba to La Paz. On the shorter flight from Sucre to Cochabamba they handed out snack packs to everyone. All in all a very good experience. Crews and ground staff generally pleasant and efficient. No "gotcha" fees and the fare was very reasonable. A nice change to what seems to be the general experience flying nowadays. Recommended.

GRU-LPB via VVI round-trip. Every flight was delayed. Domestic routes only 15 minutes each. International ones delays of over an hour. Ground crew didn't provide any information. Overall they are poorly organized. Old 737-300 fleet was comfortable and flight service was ok. Beverages and snacks provided for short haul flights as well. Cabin was clean a little worn but in good condition. Flights were safe and smooth. Landing at LPB during the day is beautiful. Would fly them again but be prepared for delays. Finally poor on board entertainment: no IFE no screens no radio only a poor magazine.

Had about 15 trips with them since February 2012 mainly short domestic flights between the main cities in Bolivia (Santa Cruz La Paz Cochabamba Sucre and Tarija) plus 2 medium haul legs to and from Sao Paulo. This is a new carrier who started operations 3 years ago after LAB and Aerosucre disappeared for bankruptcy and they have a fleet of about 10 B737-300 + one leased A330-200 for the Madrid route. Even though the planes are not new at all (I guess an average age of 15 years) they are well maintained and the crew members both in the air and on the ground are extremely pleasant polite and smiling making you feel welcome on board. Sometimes delays may happen because of the limited number of planes compared to the destinations served but in my experience this happened only a few times. Fares are good and booking/checking in through their website is very easy. For sure this is not a luxury airline but I enjoyed my flights with them and I will have no problem flying with them again even for longer international trips.

Domestic flights (La Paz to Cochabamba to Santa Cruz) are excellent and efficient although the snack has been reduced from a sandwich to a biscuit or a bag of crisps! Flight from Santa Cruz to Sao Paulo was on an ancient plane with very uncomfortable seats of American Airlines standard. Two and three quarter hour flight with no inflight entertainment at all and a sandwich for a snack. Domestic flights were fine but was disappointed with international.