In 1932 It was rebranded as Línea Aérea Nacional de Chile (English: National Air Line of Chile), using the acronym LAN Chile as its commercial name. The airline was founded by Chilean Air Force Commodore Arturo Merino Benítez (after whom Santiago International Airport is named), and began operations on Maas Línea Aeropostal Santiago-Arica (English: Postal Air Line Santiago-Arica), under the government of President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. LATAM Airlines Group is currently the largest airline corporation in Latin America.ĭH 60G Gipsy Moths in service with LAN Chile, 1933 Currently, LATAM Chile and LATAM Brazil continue to work as separate companies, under LATAM Airlines Group acting as the executive management. In August 2015, it was announced that the two airlines would fully rebrand as LATAM, with one livery to be applied on all aircraft by 2018. LATAM Airlines Group was formed after the takeover by LAN and Brazilian TAM Linhas Aéreas, which was completed on June 22, 2012. The carrier was a member of the Oneworld airline alliance from 2000 to 2020. LAN is the largest airline in Latin America, serving Latin America, Northern America, the Caribbean, Oceania, Asia, and Europe. LAN was the flag carrier of Chile until its privatization in the 1990s, is the predominant airline in Chile, Ecuador and Peru, and the second-largest carrier in Colombia, through its local subsidiaries. The main hub is Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Santiago, with secondary hubs in Bogotá, Lima, and Guayaquil airports. Try to do some legs of your trip overland to see the Altiplano, steppes, deserts and all the other out-of-this-world topographies.LATAM Airlines Chile (formerly LAN Airlines and LAN-Chile) is an airline based in Santiago, Chile, and is one of the founders of LATAM Airlines Group, Latin America's largest airline holding company. Check your destination's off- and shoulder seasons to save lots of money.Ġ7 Don't fly everywhere - yes, distances in South America are long, but you won't see that much at 26,000ft and above. Domestic flights are also expensive during January and February in most South American countries because of school holidays. Air France flies to Cayenne in French Guiana, KLM to the islands of Curaçao and Bonaire, and the MoD's airbridge service from RAF Brize Norton to Mount Pleasant in the Falklands, from where travellers can connect to Chile with LAN.Ġ6 Ticket prices skyrocket around Christmas. On Argentina's Patagonian coast, there can also be high winds, especially in the southern summer months (Nov-Apr).Ġ5 Exotic stopovers.

The Beagle Channel and Magellan Strait are like natural wind tunnels and the cold katabatic and ocean-borne winds often gust unpredictably. Don't panic: significant turbulence is absolutely normal.Ġ4 If flying down to Patagonia, expect strong side-winds when landing, especially at Ushuaia and Punta Arenas airports. TAP Portugal, meanwhile, flies to many Brazilian destinations from its hub in Lisbon.Ġ2 Check out multi-stop passes such as the TAM Airpass ($532/£337 for four flights), Aerolíneas Argentinas' Visit Argentina pass (minimum three flights, from $150/£95) and One World's Visit South America pass (minimum three flights, price varies depending on outward flight).Ġ3 Off Brazil's northern coast, over the Amazon, and across the pampas, there are regular convection storms, caused by a collision of cool and hot, damp air systems. Elsewhere, Madrid's Barajas Airport is to modern conquistadors what Seville was to the original explorers - Iberia and LAN fly across the continent from the Spanish capital.

If you don't live in London, always look closely at services that route via Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam they are often far cheaper than ex-London services. 01 Avianca, British Airways and TAM fly direct from Heathrow to South America.

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