LATAM Airlines inaugurates non-stop Santiago-Melbourne flight

October 6, 2017: LATAM Airlines has inaugurated its non-stop service between Santiago, Chile and Melbourne, Australia, from October 5, 2017.

The westbound flight (Santiago-Melbourne) is over 11,000 kilometres 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. 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.

“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 percent.

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.

Santiago is one of LATAM’s principal hubs and offers onward connections to an unrivalled 124 destinations throughout Chile and Latin America, including direct services to major cities such as São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Lima, Bogota and Quito.

LATAM also serves the region’s principal tourist destinations including Machu Picchu in Peru (via Cuzco), Torres del Paine National Park (via Puerto Natales/Punta Arenas, Chile), the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador, Cartagena de Indias in Colombia, Iguazú Falls (via Puerto Iguazú, Argentina) and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.