Amaszonas airlines - Bolivia
 

Has anyone flown on the 45 minute flight on Amaszonas from La Paz to Uyuni?
Amaszonas Airlines use a Bombardier CRJ-200. These are modern efficient aircraft used by western airlines as well however given the overall safety situation in Bolivia, it obviously concerns me.

There is also another airline called Bolivian aviacion which uses a 737 but I think tickets are more expensive on this airline.

OK...
 

I flew a couple of sectors (ASU/ VVI, VVI/ LPB) a week or so ago and, overall, Amaszonas was good, in the sense of being punctual, ground handling efficient and in-flight service OK.

However, there were obvious signs of a more casual approach to safety and maintenance than I would like, or than I have seen with other regional carriers like LAN and the vastly improved AR. There was no proper pre-take-off cabin safety check on either of the flights I took and, for one of them, the man across the aisle from me only thought it time to fasten his seatbelt at V1! There was no light in the WC on the same flight, so everyone had to use their mobile phones to see. Never seen that before, in decades of flying, on hundreds of airlines...

That said, the flights themselves were fine, without any of the white knuckle, take-offs and landings common in the region, and I would fly them again, with the right schedule and fare, albeit with niggling concerns. It's all about personal assessment of and attitude toward risk. Hope that helps.

Just flew them a few days ago from IQQ-LPB on a CRJ-100/200, and had no problem. We actually left 30 minutes early, which was nice. Everything in the cabin appeared to be working, and nothing struck me in particular as worthy of concern. Luggage arrived as expected, and the check-in agents/FAs were fine. Would fly them again without much reservation.

Flew the exact same route LaPaz to UYU and back in May.

Your typical airline, nothing outstanding, nothing otherwise bad either.

Its a plane, it will get you there. If you take a very early morning flight and there is fog in LaPaz all flights will be delayed for an hour which is expected.

I got a booking with Amaszonas later this month LPB-VVI-ASU on the same ticket. First there were a 3h transfer on VVI, but they now changed the first flight so I only got 1,5h. Will that be enough to transfer from Domestic to International? I got only handbag.

Looking for a flight from Rio to Cusco early next year.

This airline has the most convenient flight option by far.

Anything I should be worried about compared to flying LATAM or Avianca?

Well, Avianca just entered bankruptcy, so...

To be honest, the entire airline industry is in the midst of an unprecedented crisis, and no one knows how long it will last. No one can predict if travel will be possible early next year, or if Amaszonas will still be operating - same goes for many other airlines. Also, with all the uncertainty it's quite possible that any flight schedules you see now could be changed 45 times between now and your travel dates.

Is the price good? If so, I would feel reasonably secure buying the ticket (with a credit card!) in the knowledge that, should the airline go belly up, you'd be able to claim a refund. Booking on a card with a generous travel insurance policy would also not be a bad idea, if you have such a card.

Totally understand everything is in flux at the moment.

Mainly wanted to know if this airline has been reliable in regards to things like lost luggage and on time performance.

It's based in Bolivia. I'll let you do the math on that one :p

In all seriousness, I'd expect them to be on par with other Latin airlines - most likely everything will be fine; if you ever face IRROPS or have an issue on the ground, you'll feel like you're in Dante's Inferno.

Thay are fine. No major dramas. But you need to babysit your reservation as schedule changes happen frequently and e-mails may or may not be sent. Better go to their web site from time to time and confirm the flight is operating as planned.