LATAM boosts links between Chile and Brazil

South America’s LATAM is boosting connections between Chile and Brazil with a new service to Brasilia that reduces travel time from Santiago by four hours. The new route between the two capitals is operated by an all-economy 174-seat Airbus A320 and, along with a new Santiago-Curriba route due to launch March 2020, will bring the number of direct routes between the two countries to five. Brasilia is LATAM’s second-biggest operational base in Brazil with connections to 23 destinations including Manaus, Fortaleza, Maceió, Recife and Salvador. READ: Delta sees passenger benefits from 20 percent stake in LATAM. “This new route reaffirms our commitment to offering the best network of destinations and flights in Latin America,’’ said LATAM group commercial director David Arcos. “These flights not only offer better connections to Brasilia, the political center of Brazil, but guests can also connect more easily to the multitude of destinations in the north and northeast of Brazil,” Other LATAM ports in Brazil are Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro and its hub from São Paulo where it offers connections to 30 destinations within Brazil and 26 international destinations in South America, United States, Europe, Asia and Africa. The Santiago-Brasilia flight (LA870)  will depart on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 1:55 PM (local time) from Santiago's Arturo Merino Benitez Airport, arriving in Brasilia at 6:15 PM (local time). The return flight (LA781) will operate on the same days and will depart from the Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport in Brasilia at 8:05 PM (local time), arriving in Santiago at 00:25 AM (local time). The expansion comes as LATAM launches three-times-weekly non-stop flights from Sydney to Santiago from October 27. LATAM has been flying to Chile from Sydney via Auckland until now and will continue to do so four days a week. However, the airline’s Boeing 787-9s will wing their way non-stop to Santiago from Sydney on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays and from Santiago to Sydney on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.