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LATAM Airlines says it plans to offer nonstop flights between Sydney and Santiago by the end of calendar 2019.
The proposed new flight would be LATAM’s second nonstop service linking Australia and Chile, following the start of Melbourne-Santiago operations in October 2017.
However, the April 30 statement did not provide a firm start date or flight times for the new nonstop Sydney service, saying only the details would be provided in the coming weeks.
Nor was there any mention of the fate of LATAM’s current daily Sydney-Auckland-Santiago service on Boeing 787 equipment.
LATAM Airlines Group chief commercial officer Roberto Alvo said the new nonstop Sydney-Santiago flight would improve connectivity between South America and Australia.
“In recent years we have expanded our services significantly and today we offer unrivalled choice for passengers on both sides of the Pacific,” Also said in a statement.
“More Australians than ever are visiting South America, wanting to discover the many unique destinations of the region and we have seen equally strong demand from passengers travelling in the other direction, forging ever greater tourism and business links.”
LATAM’s Boeing 787-9s are configured with 30 business class, 51 extra legroom economy and 232 economy seats for a total of 313, while its 787-8s have 247 seats in a two-class layout of 30 business and 217 economy.
In addition to LATAM’s one-stop offering between Sydney and Santiago with its own aircraft, the airline also codeshares on Qantas’s nonstop service with with Boeing 747-400s that operates between three and five times a week, depending on the time of year.
LATAM also has its LA airline code on Qantas’s domestic services beyond Sydney and Melbourne.
Similarly, Qantas has its QF airline code on LATAM’s Sydney-Auckland-Santiago and Melbourne-Santiago flights, as well as for connecting services beyond Santiago to South America.
Andrew Donayre
says:Nothing could be much better than flying Latam non stop to Santiago,great airline,great service…regards Andrew
Wilson
says:I like flight with quantas on the 747 more confortable on the long trip, use travel with Lan on the 788 dreamliner Sydney Auckland Santiago and return , travel with Lan in economy was like be inside a sardines can.
Al
says:Maybe QF will hand over the reins to LA on this route and then retire a 744 – depending on load factors on this route it could be a win for QF
Alec
says:No thank you. Too long in a twin engine specially a B787 on polar route. Just imagine an Engine out situation or fire on board. I’d rather be closer to a suitable airport than taking any chances with the 240min ETOPS. B787 has some well documented inflight engine shut down with the GenX and who could forget the battery issues earlier on.
Alec
says:Add RR engines on B789 and B78x to the list too with the reduced ETOPS of 140mins.