Two years after the South American airline pulled out of New Zealand, the carrier is back with sweet dulce de leche and flight information in Spanish and Portuguese.
The Auckland stopover of the Sydney to Santiago service will return from March 29. The curious spit flight, stopping over to pick up passengers in New Zealand was popular with aviation and travellers heading to South America via Chile.
However, this proved a headache for Covid travel regulations. It was parked indefinitely at the end of March 2020 after Australia and New Zealand shut their borders to non-citizens.
Now, the five-step plan to reopen New Zealand by the end of the year has given the carrier reason to return.
Passengers boarding in either Australia or Chile will be allowed to transit in Auckland, but would not be able to leave the airport unless they were eligible to enter New Zealand.
Based out of Santiago, Chile the return of LATAM reopens a vital commercial air link to South America. Air New Zealand scrapped its Buenos Aires flights in 2020, without plans to restart direct flights to Argentina.
Last week Buenos Aires was not among the routes that the national airline announced would be restarting this year.
A couple of years ago, LATAM offered 1,483 monthly flights, to destinations as far removed as Johannesburg and Sydney. It is currently flying just 57 per cent of its pre-pandemic capacity and 17 routes, according to Cirium.
However the Chilean airline has held on to its landing slots in Sydney and Auckland, as a unique market for inbound travel.
The unique Sydney, Auckland, Santiago service will return to New Zealand next month. Photo / Fabrizio Gandolfo, Getty Images
3 things we've missed about LATAM
Dulce de leche Food is always a highlight of travel and on a network as large as LATAM's there are plenty of exotic morsels. These range from the humble cheese and ham sandwich to coffee and alfajores. Sickly sweet sandwiches made from the national delicacy, dulce de leche, they beat a Cookie - 9 times out of 10.
But don't board with an appetite. Sadly, food service has been suspended on most domestic flights including in Peru, Colombia, and Brazil.
Feature-lenth flight safety videos While Air New Zealand's safety videos approach feature film length, LATAM would give Peter Jackson a run for his money. The international network for the South American airline runs in Spanish, with the addition of Portuguese on routes with LATAM Brazil. The Latest safety video clocked in just shy of 6 minutes.
The polyglottal influence also feeds into the in-flight entertainment, with a selection of films and music from around the continent.
South America As the third biggest airport in the continent, Santiago is a stepping off point for South American adventure. From Easter Island to the Andes, from the Atacama desert down to the Arctic Circle, the continent is huge. Chile alone runs 4000m from 17° to 56° latitude, it's one of the most diverse landscapes a country can offer. Direct links on South America's largest airline a great way to make up for 2 years of lost time exploring.
