EasyFly Airline Review

I discovered EasyFly, a discount Colombian airline, in my search for low-cost flights from Medellin to Bucaramanga.

A week before my departure, I booked a return flight online for 249,440 pesos ($159), which works out to about $80 each way.

But the cost savings didn’t stop with the flights. EasyFly operates out of Medellin’s Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport, meaning I’d save time and money on taxi fare as well.

Until now, all my flights to/from the Medellin have been out of the Jose Maria Cordoba International Airport in Rio Negro.

The official 2013 taxi fare from the city to the international airport is 57,000 pesos ($31), whereas a taxi from OH Airport costs me about 6,000 pesos ($3), and takes 5-10 minutes (versus an hour).

EasyFly began operations in 2007, and has been slowly building a schedule of routes. Daily flights currently serve a mix of 16 cities, from the capital, to ones not serviced by other major airlines.

The three flight hubs are:

• Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport
• Medellin’s Olaya Herrera Airport
• Bucaramanga’s Palonegro International Airport

From Medellin, you can fly direct to:

• Apartado
• Bucaramanga
• Cucuta
• Monteria
• Quibdo

EasyFly operates a fleet of BAe Jetstream 41 propeller planes. As you can tell from the photos above, they’re not very big, but given the flight distances are so short (about an hour max), it’s not too bad.

My flights between Medellin and Bucaramanga clocked in at 45 minutes each, and both were relatively calm with little turbulence.

Inside the planes, it’s a tight fit. Each row seats 3 people. On the left side of the plane are single seats, while the right side features two per row.

For my departure from Medellin, I asked for a window seat at check-in, and got one a few rows back, which put me directly next to the right propeller. I was still able to get decent views of the city during take off.

My only luggage was a small backpack, so I was able to take it as carry-on, and stow it under the seat in front of me.

On my return flight, I chose the front right window seat, so I didn’t have anyone in front of me.

Before I and others could board the plane, we had to give up our carry-on items (except for purses), as the flight attendance said the plane was full.

I was a little annoyed at the late notice, but the truth is I had nowhere to stow the bag in front of me, and there are no overhead compartments either.

Since we took off in Medellin from south to north, I figured the return flight would have to do a loop over Medellin to approach the airport from the south.

Sitting on the right side of the plane would give me a nice view of Poblado as we landed. This turned out to be the case, as you can see above.

Because OH Airport in Medellin and Bucaramanga’s airport are so small, check-in times were minimal, though you can do so online through the EasyFly site if you want to pick your seat and print your boarding pass (you’ll need two copies).

The service on the ground and in the air was friendly, and both flights were on time. Actually, my flight from Medellin departed 10-15 minutes EARLIER than scheduled. In all my years of flying, that was a first.

I wouldn’t hesitate to use EasyFly again, but for now, they don’t fly out of Medellin to any other destinations I want to visit.

Hopefully that’ll change in the future, because I much prefer flights from OH Airport to JMC in Rio Negro.

Have you flown EasyFly? Share your experience in the comments below.