Originally Posted by
elvisisdead
The first involves a 45 minute connection in San Salvador (from YYZ -AV to AV). Not only is this tight, it is in March, so a late inbound flight is a distinct possibility. I understand there is no security to clear in SAL, but 45 minutes seems really tight... Since this is one of the last flights out, if I can't make a connection, I will be delayed a whole day.
I was on AV YYZ-LIM via SAL last Christmas. My ticket had 35 minutes to connect in SAL. Our flight departed YYZ over an hour late due to snow and de-icing. However, AV held the SAL-BOG flight to wait for numerous passengers connecting from YYZ. SAL is very small and you just walk from one gate to another with no security or immigration to go through. In my case, the walk was about 5 minutes. I believe AV is very experienced in connecting passengers in SAL, and their agents in YYZ reassured me that I would be protected in case of a missed connection when I asked them at the gate as it was snowing heavily during departure. I was quite impressed because I checked my watch and it took a total of 30 minutes from the time my YYZ-SAL flight landed to the moment when the SAL-BOG flight was in the air.
On a separate note, it seems ever since AV eliminated loads of flights in the San Jose hub last summer, the YYZ-SAL flights have been scheduled to arrive in SAL so late that connecting possibilities have been significantly reduced.