LATAM Airlines Group (‘LATAM’) today inaugurated its non-stop service between Santiago, Chile and Melbourne, Australia, becoming the only airline to connect Latin America with the Victorian capital.
The westbound flight (Santiago-Melbourne) is over 11,000 km long and will last 15 hours, making it the longest flight in LATAM’s history. The company will operate three flights per week between the two cities.
“We are proud to be the only airline to offer a non-stop connection between Latin America and Melbourne. This new route provides a great opportunity for more people from Australia and Asia-Pacific to visit our region as well as strengthen ties between Latin America and the two regions. With the new Melbourne service, LATAM not only demonstrates its commitment to Australia and Asia-Pacific, but also to offering unrivalled connectivity to, from and within Latin America,” said Enrique Cueto, CEO of LATAM Airlines Group. “We continue to develop our network of destinations and by the end of 2017, we will have launched 13 new routes, principally strengthening connectivity between the countries of the region.”
“Australia and Chile have much in common. Our countries share many of the same opportunities and challenges and there is much more to be done together. Direct flights between Santiago and Melbourne will help strengthen our cooperation and the links between our businesses, universities and communities. We are happy to know that our saying at the Embassy ‘Australia and Chile closer than ever’ is becoming a reality,” commented Robert Fergusson, Australian Ambassador to Chile.
“Thanks to LATAM Airlines’ new direct route between Santiago and Melbourne, our people have never been so close. This milestone also opens our region to Asia and Latin America bringing even more opportunities to expand our friendship and explore new business and trade opportunities. In effect, it was for this reason, to bring our people closer, that the Victoria government recently established the first Latin American Trade and Investment Office in Santiago, Chile,” added Philip Dalidakis, Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade, Government of Victoria, Australia.
LATAM currently operates seven flights per week from Santiago to Sydney (via Auckland, New Zealand). In 2015, the airline introduced the Boeing 787-9 aircraft to the route, increasing capacity by 27 per cent.
Each year, LATAM transports approximately 190,000 passengers between Latin America and Asia-Pacific. With the new service, LATAM estimates that it will transport an additional 77,000 passengers between the two continents each year.
Schedule
Starting today (5 October 2017), LATAM Airlines Group flight LA805 will depart Santiago (SCL) at 13:30 (local time) on Monday, Thursday and Saturday, arriving in Melbourne (MEL) at 18:40 (local time) the next day, with a journey time of 15 hours 10 minutes.
The return flight, LA804, will depart Melbourne at 20:40 (local time) on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, arriving in Santiago at 19:55 the same day (local time), with a journey time of 13 hours 15 minutes.*
(*Schedule subject to change.)
In-flight experience
The service will be operated by Boeing 787-9 aircraft with 220 seats in Economy, 54 seats in Space+ and 30 seats in Premium Business, offering 180-degree lie-flat seats.
Seats in all cabin classes feature individual touchscreen in-flight entertainment systems, offering a wide selection of movies, TV series, music and games.
Premium Business passengers will be able to enjoy priority airport services, spacious lie-flat seats and a newly-designed food and wine offering that showcases Latin American produce.
Melbourne
Located on Australia’s southeast coast, Melbourne is the capital of the state of Victoria and the country’s second largest city with a population of over 4.5 million. Home to world-renowned arts, theatre, architecture, literature, dining and sports (including the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix and the Australian Open tennis championship), it is widely regarded as Australia’s ‘cultural capital’ and has been named the ‘world’s most liveable city’ by The Economist Intelligence Unit for seven consecutive years. It is also a leading financial centre in the Asia-Pacific region and the home to the headquarters of many of Australia’s largest corporations.
LATAM’s oneworld partners offer onward connections from Melbourne to cities throughout Australia including Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth as well as to destinations across Asia ranging from the metropolises of Hong Kong, Singapore and Beijing to the tourist capitals of Bangkok and Bali.