LAN to offer three flights from Australia to Argentina a week.

LAN Argentina has announced the introduction of codeshare services from Australia, with three new non-stop flights per week between Sydney and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The flights, to be operated by fellow oneworld carrier Qantas and marketed by LAN Argentina, will commence on November 24  – subject to government approvals in Argentina and Australia – departing Sydney every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday morning.

“South America is one of the fastest-growing destinations in the world for tourism and for business, with double-digit annual growth in demand from Australia,” said Rodrigo Contreras, LAN’s General Manager Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

“With three flights per week to Buenos Aires, and our current services to Santiago, Chile, via Auckland, New Zealand, we can now offer our customers a choice of gateways to South America,” said Mr Contreras.

“The addition of Sydney-Buenos Aires fights also offers our customers many more travel options and confirms LAN as the airline of choice to South and Central America,” he said.

The LAN Alliance serves 15 destinations in Chile, 12 destinations in Peru, 10 destinations in Argentina, two destinations in Ecuador, 15 destinations in other Latin American countries and the Caribbean, three destinations in the United States, two destinations in Europe and four destinations in the South Pacific, as well as 60 additional international destinations through its various code-share agreements.

With Sydney-Santiago and Sydney-Buenos Aires flights, travellers can enter South America through one gateway airport and return home from another, providing added flexibility for those visiting multiple destinations.

Members of the LANPASS frequent flyer programme also will be able to earn and redeem points on all of the Australia-South America flights, whether operated by LAN or Qantas.

Within South America, LAN offers one of the most modern aircraft fleets in the world. Recently LAN completed the replacement process for its short haul fleet, standardising on Airbus A320 family aircraft, equipped with the most advanced technology available in the industry and offering the most ample and comfortable passenger seating in its category.

The Airbus fleet fits LAN’s commitment to the protection of the environment. The fleet was designed with a new environmental system (EMS) based on the international ISO 14001 standards.

LAN Airlines’ current one-stop flights between Sydney and Santiago will continue to be operated with Airbus A340-300 aircraft, while the non-stop Sydney-Buenos Aires flights, upon which LAN Argentina will code share, will be operated with Qantas Boeing 747-400ER aircraft.

Flight LA 4517 will depart Sydney at 10.35am each Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, crossing the international dateline and arriving in Buenos Aires at 10.35am the same day – a flight time of 13 hours.

The return service, LA 4518, will leave Buenos Aires at 2.05pm each Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, arriving back in Sydney at 5.45pm the following day – a nonstop flight of 14 hours, 40 minutes.

For more information, or to make a booking on LAN services, visit www.lan.com.

A Report by The Mole