Avianca Airbus A320 N686TA Surf City El Salvador Special Livery First Visit to Curaçao
September 21st, 2026 saw another special livery make its first visit to Curaçao, not once, but twice !
Avianca’s N686TA, an Airbus A320-214 in the “Surf City El Salvador” promotional special livery operated both Avianca flights between Bogota, Colombia and the island that day. This offered me the rare opportunity to be “in two places at once” and shoot a few different angles. As is standard this time of year, the heat haze and harsh light joined forces to ruin some photographs but I am quite pleased to have caught the aircraft arriving from two different locations.
N686TA returned to Curaçao on September 22nd for the early flight from the Colombian capital.
Unveiled in February 2022, the aircraft’s livery is intended to promote El Salvador as a tourism and investment destination through a new brand - Surf City El Salvador. In a statement, the country’s tourism minister Morena Valdez said “We are betting on a different type of promotion by bringing the Surf City El Salvador to new markets. This alliance (with Avianca) is key to keep positioning the country through the surf as our anchor to connect the travelers with other natural, cultural, and historical destinations”.
Inside of the cabin, the overhead luggage bins and tray tables feature beach-inspired art from Salvadoran illustrator Armando Márquez.
The United States is the dominant source for tourism to the Central American country and this special aircraft is intended to operate mainly on flights between San Salvador International Airport (SAL/MSLP) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX/KLAX).
N686TA was built in Hamburg-Finkenwerder in 2012 and originally delivered to El Salvador’s flag carrier TACA (Transportes Aéreos del Continente Americano). In 2013, the jet became part of the Avianca Group fleet, and TACA began operating as Avianca El Salvador S.A. following the merger announced in 2009.
Interestingly, the last flight to use the TACA callsign, TACA 566, from MSLP to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK/KJFK) on May 20th, 2013 landed just over two hours after the official re-branding and arrived at KJFK with an Avianca callsign.
