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LATAM says it has seen “significant interest” from Australian travellers in flights to South America as it launches its non-stop Sydney–Santiago service.
Speaking to Australian Aviation, Chris Ellis, the Chilean carrier’s country manager for Oceania, said the existing route from Sydney to Santiago via Auckland had been popular with travellers, and that the inaugural non-stop flight had completely sold out with solid bookings projected for the holidays.
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The first non-stop flight, LA810, departed Sydney at around 1pm on 28 October aboard the 787-9 Dreamliner CC-BGA, with the service – announced in April – estimated to bring LATAM’s seats between Australia and South America to 3,900 a week, or more than 200,000 per year.
“When we initially launched the route back in 2019 it was an instant success, so we’re excited to have it flying once more – the response has been fantastic since we announced the recommencement back in April,” Ellis said.
“With a shorter flight duration, increased frequencies and more accessibility to connect to destinations throughout the continent, the relaunch has sparked renewed interest in exploring South America amongst travellers.”
According to Ellis, the Australian market is growing for LATAM, which also operates a separate three-times-weekly flight from Melbourne.
“Based on available travel data of Australians’ outbound travel for holidays and other purposes, we can see that travel to South America has increased by 34 per cent (January-June 24 vs January-June 23), with Brazil, Chile and Argentina seeing the biggest increase,” he said.
“With travel numbers returning to pre-pandemic level and even increasing, we expect to see interest and curiosity for South America. To meet this demand and take advantage of Australians’ appetite to travel, we wanted to make it even easier, quicker and more convenient for them to choose South America as their next travel destination.
“The return of the direct route means a flight time of under 13 hours, which is a 4-hour reduction from our Auckland stopover service. The flight will be operating four times a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, offering travellers increased flexibility when booking their next trip.”
LATAM is competing with Qantas, which has had the route to itself post-pandemic, with BITRE data from the Department of Transport earlier this year showing the Flying Kangaroo boasted load factors of 90 per cent outbound – its fourth-highest for an international destination.
