LATAM Airlines flight LA801 landed in Sydney at 6.10 am yesterday morning with 270 passengers on board, arriving from Santiago, Chile after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. LATAM is currently the only airline operating flights between Australia/New Zealand and South America, finally reconnecting the two continents.

As passengers arrived in Sydney, they got their first taste of Australia in a long time,  starting with some welcome ANZAC biscuits handed out by the LATAM team at arrivals. Emotions were running high for the crowds of families and friends including children with handmade signs and balloons, waiting for their loved ones. Grandparents met their grandchildren for the first time, sisters were reunited after 22 years between seeing each other in person and families who had experienced heartbreak over the pandemic were brought back together to support each other. 

Chris Ellis, Country Manager - Oceania, LATAM said "We're beyond delighted to reconnect Australia and New Zealand with South America after two years. It's been a pleasure to welcome the first passengers from South America back to Sydney and see the rush of emotions as families and friends have been reunited at Sydney Airport.”

“LATAM has the largest airline network in Latin America and we know that many of our passengers have been patiently waiting a long time for flights to resume so they can not only be reunited with loved ones but also travel to destinations they've been dreaming about such as the Atacama Desert, Iguazu Falls, Machu Picchu and Patagonia."

LATAM is operating a Boeing 787-9 aircraft three times weekly and is looking to increase the schedule to five flights weekly from 1 July 2022.  

Schedule:

*Schedule is in local time, valid for the months of April, May and June.

Passengers departing from Sydney on LATAM's first flight to Santiago via Auckland on 31 March will be gifted alfajores, traditional and delicious South American biscuits filled with dulce de leche. 

Passengers must meet specific entry requirements for entering South America and we recommend visiting the following link for more information:

https://www.latamairlines.com/us/en/experience/coronavirus/restrictions.

For information on travel requirements and ticket purchases, visit latam.com or contact your travel agent. 

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Media Contact

Kate Jenkins, Be Your Brand - 0490 401 492; kate@beyourbrand.com.au 

ABOUT LATAM AIRLINES GROUP

LATAM Airlines Group is the largest airline in Latin America with a presence in five domestic markets in the region: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, in addition to international operations within the region, and between Latin America and Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the United States, and the Caribbean. 

The group has a fleet of Boeing 767, 777, 787, Airbus A321, A320, A320neo and A319 aircraft.

LATAM Cargo Chile, LATAM Cargo Colombia, and LATAM Cargo Brazil are the LATAM Airlines freight subsidiaries. In addition to having access to the passenger cargo holds of LATAM Airlines Group, they have a fleet of 12 freighters, which will gradually increase to a total of up to 21 freighters by 2023.

They operate on the LATAM Airlines Group network, as well as international routes that are solely used for shipping. They offer modern Infrastructure, a wide variety of services and protection options to meet all customer needs.

www.latam.com