Article from BTNews 23 MAY 2016
Santiago debut for BA
British Airways is launching the only direct flight between London and Chile’s capital, Santiago, next January.
At around 11,630km (about 6,279nmi) from London, Santiago will become the airline’s longest long-haul route, taking 14hr 40min, nearly an hour more than the current longest flight of 13hr 50min to Buenos Aires.
The four-a-week flight will be served by BA’s newest aircraft, the four-cabin Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, complete with the airline’s new First Class cabin.
Santiago becomes the latest Latin America destination to join the BA route network. The airline has just launched new services to San Jose in Costa Rica and Lima in Peru and operates to Rio and São Paulo (Brazil) and Buenos Aires (Argentina).
BA chairman and CEO Alex Cruz said the recent increase in the carrier’s services to South and Central America reflected the area’s continued growth in both business and tourism.
“The Chilean economy has been growing steadily, with increasing trade links to Europe, so this new direct route will respond to the need for travel between the two capital cities to do business face-to-face,” he added.
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