IST>BOG>PTY - transit question
 

I'm booking an award for a friend with a Thai passport, and he's going BKK>IST (change), and then IST>BOG>PTY (TK 800). He doesn't need a visa for Turkey or Panama, but apparently he does need a visa for Colombia. However, after speaking with TK customer service today, I was told that the passengers don't actually get off the plane in Bogota if they are continuing to PTY so the pax shouldn't need a visa.

I wanted to check and see if anyone has experience with this flight/routing and knows anything about immigration control in BOG. I assume they've got a sterile area even if he has to get off the plane, so he wouldn't need a visa. When checking with the Colombian government website:

https://tramitesmre.cancilleria.gov....itarVisa.xhtml

to actually apply for a visa, when I select Thai national and then V (visitor) and purpose "Airport Transit", it says "no visa required". And just to verify, I then select just V (visitor) and purpose "Tourism", and it says no visa required. But on the main page it says Thai nationals require a visa. Very helpful!

I'm asking this question in the TK forum on the off chance someone else has taken this flight and may require a visa for Colombia to see if the airport staff in IST check this and might deny boarding because pax doesn't have a visa.

Thanks for any help.

Your friend would stay onboard ( they don't let PTY pax to enter the terminal ) and would not leave the aircraft during the transit at BOG so there is nothing to worry about.

Thanks a lot! This is great news.