South American airline group LATAM has just launched the only non-stop flight from the West Coast of the United States to the Brazilian city of São Paulo after the inaugural service landed at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday morning.
LATAM announced its intention to serve Los Angeles with a direct flight from São Paulo in November 2022, and that route has finally launched as part of the Chilean headquartered airline’s joint venture with Delta Air Lines.
The 6,156-mile São Paulo to Los Angeles route will be served three times per week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and has been blocked at 12 hours and 15 minutes.
The return flight will depart on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays and has been blocked at just 12 hours – around four hours faster than the previous quickest way to get from Los Angeles to São Paulo by connecting on other LATAM services in Santiago de Chile or Lima.
Initially, LATAM will operate a Boeing 777-300 aircraft on the route with 38 Premium Business seats, 50 Economy+ seats and 322 Economy seats. After November 2023, however, the flight will be operated on a newer Boeing 787-9 aircraft which has a considerably smaller capacity.
The Dreamliner is equipped with 30 Premium Business seats, 57 Premium Economy seats and 213 Economy seats.
“LATAM and Delta’s goal with this joint venture is to bring South America closer to the U.S., and this direct flight between Los Angeles and São Paulo is an important milestone in this partnership,” commented Paola Penarete, LATAMs VP for North America, Mexico, Caribbean and Asia, after the inaugural flight landed at LAX.
“This new route demonstrates our commitment to increasing connectivity between the U.S. and Brazil, and both airlines promise to continue delivering faster and more practical solutions for all our passengers in North and South America,” Penarete continued.
The airline already serves Miami, Orlando, New York JFK and Boston in the United States, but this latest route between São Paulo and Los Angeles is the first route as part of a joint venture with Delta Air Lines.
The Atlanta-based carrier acquired a stake in LATAM in early 2020 in a deal valued at around $1.9 billion. The stake has helped Delta expand its reach in South America and prompted LATAM’s decision to leave the Oneworld airline alliance.
It was initially thought that LATAM would seek membership in rival Skyteam because that’s the alliance that Delta is a part of, but LATAM says it is focused on its joint venture with Delta while retaining some cooperation with Oneworld alliance member airlines.
FYI – It’s not the first nonstop between the West Coast and São Paulo. At the very least, Korean Air used to fly ICN-LAX-GRU and had fifth freedom rights between LAX and GRU. I flew it roundtrip for the 2014 World Cup.
Urgh! I only meant to say “the only flight” but that phrase was in my head for some reason! Many thanks!