Look out for new routes from LATAM's new hub at BOG operated by LAN Colombia to the Caribbean, Central America and North America!
LAN Colombia plans to launch BOG-JFK and BOG-LAX in the very near-term.
This is great if your airline is in the Star Alliance, these are all United hubs. LATAM will probably be a OW airline group unless Avianca, Copa and LAN are approved by the Colombian Government as Star airlines( likely to happen is zero).
TAM flying to California would be a very long flight from Sao Paulo, more likely they will feed those passengers to AA.
A388 From Netherlands Antilles, joined May 2001, 9073 posts, RR: 13 Reply 4, posted (10 months 1 day 7 hours ago) and read 2207 times:
I have some information regarding the Caribbean but I cannot share the information as long as its not official. In any case I welcome LAN to the Caribbean.
jfk777 From United States of America, joined Aug 2006, 7345 posts, RR: 7 Reply 5, posted (10 months 1 day 7 hours ago) and read 2184 times:
Quoting PDPsol (Reply 3): Certainly a long flight at 6,200NM, but the A330-200 has a 7,200NM range, so could be feasible. The 77W can certainly do the flight.
A GRU-LAX would appear to be the most logical route for LATAM, should JJ join oneworld.
Yes its feasible and in the past Varig and VASP both flew it to LAX on their way to Japan. United flew it briefly to with a 747SP. IS it viable ? GRU to LAX alone probably doesn't have enough demand for a daily flight as an O & D destination. Unless TAM goes to Tokyo LAX probably won't happen. They are better of AA, BA and future Middle East OW members for Tokyo traffic.
PDPsol From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 998 posts, RR: 6 Reply 6, posted (10 months 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 2167 times:
Quoting jfk777 (Reply 5): GRU to LAX alone probably doesn't have enough demand for a daily flight as an O & D destination.
Well, Sao Paulo is the largest metropolitan market [by population] in the western Hemisphere and Los Angeles is the second-largest metro in the US, so one can only imagine GRU-LAX should attract a tremendous amount of O&D traffic, even without a continuation to NRT, or wherever in Asia.
California is the largest and most important state in the US
Sao Paulo is the most important state in Brasil
If GRU-LAX is not a feasible route, then what two city pairs in the Americas are? These are both massive, massive markets. Should JJ join oneworld, both will be major hub cities for the alliance.
One can only imagine how important this route must be for LATAM and its US partner, AMR.
SCL767 From Chile, joined Feb 2006, 8266 posts, RR: 5 Reply 7, posted (10 months 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 2141 times:
Quoting PDPsol (Reply 3): A GRU-LAX would appear to be the most logical route for LATAM, should JJ join oneworld.
LATAM routes GRU pax traveling to LAX via LIM. The LIM-LAX route will increase to 13x weekly in October. When LAN Colombia launches BOG-LAX, GRU pax will have a new option to connect to LAX via BOG. LATAM will soon operate the BOG-GRU route 13x weekly.
Quoting A388 (Reply 4): In any case I welcome LAN to the Caribbean.
LAN has been serving the Caribbean for decades! LAN currently serves the Caribbean from SCL, EZE and LIM. LIM-PUJ operates daily and LAN recently launched LIM-HAV 3x weekly. LAN will soon operate SCL-PUJ-MIA 2x weekly; which will complement the weekly EZE-PUJ-MIA service.
Viscount724 From Switzerland, joined Oct 2006, 21481 posts, RR: 24 Reply 8, posted (10 months 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 2099 times:
Quoting eastern023 (Thread starter): But I think there will be room to develop more routes non U.S. Such as:
LIM -YYZ (LP)
They would have to renegotiate the bilateral. The current very old Canada-Peru bilateral only permits Peruvian carriers to operate to YUL and YVR, not YYZ. Only the Canadian-designated carrier can operate LIM-YYZ.
A388 From Netherlands Antilles, joined May 2001, 9073 posts, RR: 13 Reply 9, posted (10 months 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 2083 times:
Quoting SCL767 (Reply 7): LAN has been serving the Caribbean for decades! LAN currently serves the Caribbean from SCL, EZE and LIM. LIM-PUJ operates daily and LAN recently launched LIM-HAV 3x weekly. LAN will soon operate SCL-PUJ-MIA 2x weekly; which will complement the weekly EZE-PUJ-MIA service.
Yes I know that and I'm not talking about those routes.
Well, San Francisco and Washington, DC are certainly important cities, but interestingly those cities' major airports are UA hubs. I doubt JJ will keep ties with UA after it effectively leaves Star Alliance, so I am not sure if we'd see both. Of the two, I would say IAD is more likely, considering that SFO will be better served by LA from SCL or LIM. With respect to ORD, it is an AA hub too, so that might work!
Quoting eastern023 (Thread starter): But I think there will be room to develop more routes non U.S. Such as:
LIM -YYZ (LP)
GRU-YYZ (JJ)
LA tried SCL-JFK-YYZ unsuccessfully. I don't think they will return any time soon. JJ might though.
Quoting SCL767 (Reply 1): BOG-LAX in the very near-term.
AV has struggled when it operated that route. I am not very optimistic.
Quoting jfk777 (Reply 2): ATAM will probably be a OW airline group unless Avianca, Copa and LAN are approved by the Colombian Government as Star airlines( likely to happen is zero).
No, no. LAN Colombia, as a member of LAN Group, is not joining Star at all. The LAN carriers will all be oneworld.
Quoting jfk777 (Reply 2): TAM flying to California would be a very long flight from Sao Paulo, more likely they will feed those passengers to AA.
Where? MIA is an awkward connecting point. DFW is a bit better, but not optimal.
Quoting PDPsol (Reply 3): A GRU-LAX would appear to be the most logical route for LATAM, should JJ join oneworld.
SCL767 From Chile, joined Feb 2006, 8266 posts, RR: 5 Reply 14, posted (10 months 1 day 4 hours ago) and read 1867 times:
Quoting EddieDude (Reply 13):
Quoting SCL767 (Reply 1):
BOG-LAX in the very near-term.
AV has struggled when it operated that route. I am not very optimistic.
It's very likely that LA will launch BOG-LAX 3x weekly (B763) by the end of this year. The service could complement LAN Cargo's affiliate MAS Air's thrice weekly service on the BOG-LAX route. LAN will begin to transfer new B-767-316ERs over to its Colombian affiliate soon.
SCL767 From Chile, joined Feb 2006, 8266 posts, RR: 5 Reply 17, posted (10 months 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 1697 times:
Quoting jfk777 (Reply 16): Why is Miami a awkward connecting point ? From Latin America its the biggest.
Miami would be the most obvious place since TAM flies double daily to MIA from GRU.
And even more passengers from South America will be flying into MIA for the Northern Winter season; especially since TAM will replace the A332s on the GRU-MIA route with B77Ws. Plus, LAN will increase flights from SCL and LIM into MIA. LATAM operates a major focus city at MIA and for the NW season, LATAM will operate close to 100 weekly passenger flights into MIA!
EddieDude From Mexico, joined Nov 2003, 7175 posts, RR: 45 Reply 18, posted (10 months 22 hours ago) and read 1513 times:
Quoting jfk777 (Reply 16): Why is Miami a awkward connecting point ? From Latin America its the biggest.
Miami would be the most obvious place since TAM flies double daily to MIA from GRU. TAM to DFW could happen but not likely.
South America-MIA-LAX is somewhat of a detour. From GRU it is a few hundred extra miles. From SCL it is almost 1,000 extra miles.
Funneling pax originating in South America bound to LAX (or vice versa) via MIA is not efficient time-wise. PTY, BOG and MEX are much better connecting points for people flying between LAX and GRU for example.
SCL767 From Chile, joined Feb 2006, 8266 posts, RR: 5 Reply 20, posted (10 months 15 hours ago) and read 1325 times:
LAN will boost flights to North America starting in October:
In October, the LIM-SFO route will increase to 5x weekly (B763), the LIM-LAX route will increase to 13x weekly (B763) year-round, the LIM-MIA route will increase to 17x weekly (B763) year-round, the LIM-JFK route will increase to 11x weekly (B763) year-round, and the GYE-JFK route will increase to 9x weekly (B763). In December, the GYE-JFK route will further increase to 11x weekly (B763) year-round.
Also in December, the SCL-LAX route will operate 3x weekly (B763) through March, 2013. During January and February, the SCL-PUJ-MIA route will increase to 3x weekly (B763) and the SCL-MIA route will operate up to 18x weekly non-stop (B763). Also, during January and February, LAN will operate seasonal flights between SCL and MCO on the weekends, (B763).
jfk777 From United States of America, joined Aug 2006, 7345 posts, RR: 7 Reply 21, posted (10 months 14 hours ago) and read 1294 times:
Quoting EddieDude (Reply 18): Funneling pax originating in South America bound to LAX (or vice versa) via MIA is not efficient time-wise. PTY, BOG and MEX are much better connecting points for people flying between LAX and GRU for example
No hub is perfectly located for a connection. But if I am going to miss my connection between two cities so far apart I would rather be stuck In Miami then Mexico City, Panama or the worst BOG.
SCL767 From Chile, joined Feb 2006, 8266 posts, RR: 5 Reply 22, posted (10 months 14 hours ago) and read 1268 times:
Quoting jfk777 (Reply 21): No hub is perfectly located for a connection. But if I am going to miss my connection between two cities so far apart I would rather be stuck In Miami then Mexico City, Panama or the worst BOG.
Currently, BOG doesn't even have any non-stop flights to the U.S. West Coast. Also, many pax arriving into MIA during the early morning from certain South American destinations DO connect onto AA's first MIA-LAX flight; which is operated with the B772. In fact, AA deploys the B772 2x daily on the MIA-LAX route.
EddieDude From Mexico, joined Nov 2003, 7175 posts, RR: 45 Reply 23, posted (10 months 9 hours ago) and read 1124 times:
Quoting jfk777 (Reply 21): if I am going to miss my connection between two cities so far apart I would rather be stuck In Miami then Mexico City, Panama or the worst BOG.
If that is the driver for flying GRU-MIA-LAX, why not catch KE's nonstop service instead and forget about potential misconnections?
avi8 From United States of America, joined Jun 2011, 494 posts, RR: 0 Reply 24, posted (10 months 8 hours ago) and read 1081 times:
Strong rumors point to LAN starting a Central American hub in the future at GUA. The time frame was not given to me, but LAN representatives have visited the airport numerous times. GUA is almost empty during most of the day with maybe 6-7 gates being occupied on average. with capacity to handle 22 aircraft simultaneously, and an excellent geographical position (leaving aside its altitude), the room for growth is there.
Give that they are focusing on LAN Colombia and in the middle of a merger, I doubt it will happen in the near future. But I do think it will happen in the next 10 year or so.
Regards, Avi8
25 jfk777: Korean is an excellent way for GRU to LAX travel, as its really for Brazilians and Koreans going to Asia the fares from GRU to LAX are probably cheap
26 SCL767: A hub at GUA will not be as lucrative to LATAM given the small size of that market. LAN is focused on increasing operations in the seven South Americ
Sponsor Message: 
From United States of America, joined Jul 2006, 803 posts, 
From Chile, joined Feb 2006, 8266 posts, 
From Netherlands Antilles, joined May 2001, 9073 posts, 
From Switzerland, joined Oct 2006, 21481 posts, 
From Mexico, joined Nov 2003, 7175 posts, 
Printer friendly format 
