LATAM Airlines announced plans to launch Santiago-Melbourne non-stop service
LATAM Airlines Group announced (05-Dec-2016) plans to launch three times weekly Santiago-Melbourne nonstop service, operating with 304 seat Boeing 787-9 aircraft, effective 05-Oct-2017 - see Route Changes Table for more information. The aircraft is configured with 220 economy, 54 economy premium and 30 premium seats. LATAM expects to handle 75,000 passengers p/a on the route, which is longest in the carrier's history and first ever nonstop between both cities. LATAM Airlines Group CEO Enrique Cueto said: "Over recent years, we've seen increasing demand for flights between Latin America and this part of the world - both from business and leisure travellers - and we want to continue supporting the growth of bilateral tourism and commerce. With the Melbourne service, we are not only reinforcing LATAM's commitment to Oceania and the Asia-Pacific, but also to offering unrivalled connectivity to, from and within Latin America." LATAM currently operates once daily Santiago-Sydney via Auckland service, handling approximately 190,000 passengers p/a on the route. Victoria's Minister for Industry and Employment Wade Noonan estimated Santiago-Melbourne service will generate up to AUD98 million (USD73 million) in tourism expenditure. [more - original PR] [more - original PR - 2]