Burgers and free vaccines: Inside South America’s busiest airport

The airport

El Dorado International Airport (BOG), the Colombian capital Bogota’s only airport.

Bogota El Dorado Airport is South America’s most frequented but is disarmingly tranquil.Credit: iStock

The flight

Air Europa UX194 from Bogota, Colombia to Madrid, Spain (MAD).

The arrival

The voyage from La Candelaria, Bogota’s main tourist area, is about 15 kilometres. I opt for a final dollop of South American frivolousness and order a motorbike on a ride-sharing app. The unexpectedly breezy 30-minute journey costs 20 pesos ($7). A car would be $11; another option is a $1 public bus trip, if you can navigate the system.

The look

Renovated about a decade ago, the one passenger terminal is South America’s most frequented but is disarmingly tranquilo. Its inviting glass windows offer vistas of Montserrate mountain and its hillside barrios. I must hide my disappointment at the lack of resemblance to the mythical city of gold that lends its name to the airport.

Check-in

About 75 per cent of flights in, out and around Colombia utilise El Dorado, and we’re in breathless Bogota, so I’m prepared for lines. Not even an uncharacteristically early arrival 3.5 hours before my flight can save me. The barricade maze is closed, creating an intimidatingly straight queue that takes me an hour to clear. There is only a handful of generic self check-in machines, which serve 14 airlines. Mine isn’t one.

Security

A glass display before entering security demonstrates what is not permitted: a golf club, knives (plural) and a large bottle of aguardiente, Colombia’s favourite liquor, among other items. I share a line at one of the 12 security scanners with airline staff, which feels like a good thing, and my passage is rapid. (On the other side, an information desk professes to be the place for “congratulations and suggestions”. I’m having a nice time but am so far not inclined to look the clerk in the eye and congratulate him.)

Food + drink

Options are international-heavy. There’s a McDonald’s before passing through security. Near the gates, one soulless-looking Colombian restaurant serves bandeja paisa, the country’s quintessential rice, beans and meat dish. The main food court is drowning in burger heaven/hell, featuring one diner apparently owned by celebrity chef and flame king Guy Fieri. I duly order a hamburger for a slightly eye-watering $20 – double, or even triple, what you’d pay in the city. It tastes fine.

Retail therapy

The classic touristy offerings include glossy plastic crafts, football shirts and, most promisingly, Colombian coffee and chocolate (go for the arequipe, a bit like dulce de leche). My favourite item is a T-shirt declaring “It’s Colombia, not Columbia”. Upmarket brands like Chanel and Ray-Bans are in-situ, alongside the variety store Miniso.

Passing time

Travel hack: El Dorado offers free yellow-fever vaccinations regardless where you’re from, in a clinic next to the check-in desks. At the gates, there’s a lactation suite for mothers and a drowsy toy panda inviting me to indulge in a nap at gate 54. Said nap costs $15 an hour. Why am I still tempted? The free Wi-Fi works well enough to watch the Succession season finale.

The verdict

Culinary options can improve but, as ever in South America, you will not be bored and the atmosphere is pleasant.

Our rating out of five

★★★★

Michael Fowler travelled at his own expense.