LATAM reconnects South America with Oceania with direct flights between Santiago and Melbourne
This route is the longest of the group, exceeding 11,000 kilometers in distance and plans to transport close to 80,000 passengers in its first year of operation
This morning, LATAM resumed direct flights from Santiago de Chile to Melbourne, Australia, thus reactivating what will be the main gateway from South America to Oceania, non-stop. Until now, the only route offered by the group to that country (to Sydney), includes a stopover in Auckland, New Zealand.
This service had been suspended in April 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And after its resumption, the company plans to transport close to 80,000 passengers between both continents at the end of its first year of operation. The Santiago-Melbourne route is the longest of the group, exceeding 11,000 kilometers in distance.
"We are happy to resume this route that today becomes the great connection between South America and Oceania for Latin Americans, since every day more people choose to travel to Australia to see its various beaches and landscapes and, also, there are more and more young people who migrate to do Work and Holiday, improve their level of English and live a multicultural experience.For this reason, we are pleased to offer our passengers more connection options between both continents, through this second route to Australia, and with the quality that distinguishes our service internationally”, highlighted María Paz Villasante, Commercial Strategy Manager, LATAM Airlines Group.
Victoria's Minister for Tourism, Sports and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos said "LATAM's return to Melbourne is a vote of confidence in our visitor economy, as we welcome more tourists and students from Latin America, and At the same time we boost exports and local jobs".
The route in detail
Flights from the Chilean capital to Melbourne will have three frequencies, taking off every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 00:55 (local time), and arriving at their destination at 05:30 (local time) the following day. Departures from Melbourne will be every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 12:25 (local time), arriving in Santiago at 11:20 on the same day.
The flights will be operated on Boeing 787-9 aircraft, with capacity for 300 passengers distributed in Premium Business, Economy+ and Economy cabins. Previously, the group had already restarted its operations to Australia in March 2022 with three weekly flights to Sydney, gradually increasing its operations until reaching a daily flight in December last year.
Details of the new schedule are available at LATAM.com, LATAM Travel, Contact Center and authorized travel agencies.