LATAM Brings Back Daily Services To Rapa Nui
Summary
- LATAM Airlines Group has restored daily connectivity between Santiago de Chile and Rapa Nui, using its Boeing 787 fleet.
- The resumption of daily flights will support Rapa Nui’s tourism industry and economic development, transporting up to 4,200 passengers per week and promoting sustainable tourism.
- LATAM Airlines has extended its agreement with Rapa Nui’s government to transport up to 300 tons of waste annually from the island to the mainland for proper disposal and recycling.
LATAM Airlines Group has restored the daily connectivity between Santiago de Chile International Airport (SCL) and Rapa Nui Mataveri International Airport (IPC), the remote airport in the Pacific Ocean. The airline is employing its Boeing 787 fleet to connect to this destination, which was deeply impacted in terms of connectivity by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nearly four years in the making
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rapa Nui became very isolated from the rest of Chile. Even before the global crisis, the island was only served by LATAM Airlines, which, due to the sanitary restrictions, was forced to temporarily shut the daily flights from Santiago altogether in 2020.
Photo: Vytautas Kielaitis | Shutterstock
Now, nearly four years later, LATAM has finally resumed daily services to Rapa Nui. The flight, which is over 3,700 kilometers long, is now available from Monday to Sunday, operated onboard the airline’s Boeing 787, with a capacity to carry up to 300 passengers, LATAM said in a statement.
Additionally, LATAM Airlines signed an extension to an agreement with Rapa Nui’s government to carry for free from the island to the continent up to 300 tons of waste per year for its correct disposal and recycling.
Flight times
LATAM Airlines will operate flight LA841, departing from Santiago de Chile at 9:40 and arriving in Rapa Nui at 13:10. The return service, LA842, will depart from Rapa Nui at 15:05, landing in Santiago at 21:40. Roberto Alvo, Chief Executive Officer at LATAM Airlines Group, said,
“For LATAM, it’s a source of pride and a great responsibility to connect one of the most remote places on the planet with our continent. The return of our daily operations will allow us to transport up to 4,200 passengers per week and support the island’s tourism industry and its residents, promoting the economic development of their community and reinforcing our commitment to the development of more sustainable tourism.”
Meanwhile, Pedro Edmunds Paoa, Rapa Nui’s mayor, added,
“We feel a great sense of relief with the resumption of daily flights because air connectivity is our only means of ensuring Rapa Nui’s economic engine. The pandemic made us rethink things, so in addition to promoting reactivation, it is essential to also advance towards a more sustainable tourism model.”
Disposing of the waste
As said before, LATAM and the island’s government reached an extension of the agreement to transport waste from Rapa Nui to Chile’s mainland. This measure aims to strengthen a commitment that LATAM has held with the island for nearly ten years, enabling the airline to transport over 1,500 tons of waste free of charge during the period.
Photo: LATAM
Not fully left alone during the pandemic
While LATAM had to temporarily cease scheduled passenger operations during the pandemic until August 2022, the airline group operated charter flights and cargo flights, which helped keep the island’s more than 8,000 inhabitants supplied and connected, as well as facilitated the transportation of healthcare personnel and medical supplies, including the free transportation of over 19,000 vaccines.
Have you ever been in Rapa Nui? How was the experience traveling there? Let us know in the comments below.
