LATAM says “Bienvenido” to Melburnians again, resuming its nonstop Melbourne-Santiago route and touching down at Melbourne Airport on 2 September 2023 to connect Chile and the Victorian capital directly for the first time since the pandemic.
South America’s largest airline and a Skytrax multi-award winner, LATAM will initially operate thrice-weekly Melbourne-Santiago flights.
The airline departs MEL on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, carrying 900 passengers per week on its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
It joins Qantas’ nonstop SYD-SCL service as Australia’s second direct route to South America, connecting into Chile and beyond through LATAM’s extensive network.
Currently, LATAM offers daily flights from Sydney via Auckland to Santiago. With the MEL-SCL direct route, it will operate a total of 10 flights per week between Australia and South America.
Melbourne Airport CEO Lorie Argus said LATAM’s return marked two important milestones for Victoria.
“The Santiago flight resumption restores our direct connection to South America. It brings the 36 international carriers flying into Melbourne back to pre-pandemic levels,” she said.
“LATAM’s return takes our overall international capacity to 97 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. By the end of the year, we expect to be back at 100 per cent.”
LATAM Airlines Country Manager Oceania Chris Ellis said the airline is excited to be back at Melbourne Airport.
“Thanks to the support of Melbourne Airport and the Victorian Government, we can now meet the strong demand for travel to South America,” he said.
For more info, head to latamairlines.com/au
