KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) is to launch scheduled flights to the Chilean capital Santiago from February next year. The European flag carrier will offer a three times weekly service from February 2, 2014 as an extension of its existing Amsterdam – Buenos Aires. This will be operated by a three-class Boeing 777-300 offering 35 seats in Business Class, 350 seats in Economy with 40 seats in an Economy Comfort Zone.

Santiago, the capital of Chile and the cultural, political and financial centre of the country is home to various headquarters of many multinational corporations, so the airline anticipates strong demand for both business and leisure passengers.

“Santiago fits perfectly in our strategy where we focus on the emerging markets in South America. We are therefore delighted to be able to offer our customers our ninth destination in South America,” said Pieter Elbers, chief operating officer, KLM. “Santiago with its 19th century neoclassical architecture and winding side-streets, dotted by art deco, neo-gothic, and other styles, is an attractive destination, not only for holidaymakers, but also for business travellers.”

The KLM service will complement the existing daily direct flights of its sister carrier Air France between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Santiago, which has been in continuous operation since October 2006. Iberia and LAN Airlines provide alternative direct links to Santiago from Europe with flights from the Spanish capital, Madrid.

In the table below we look in greater detail at O&D passenger flows between Europe and Chile. In 2012, an estimated 721,000 bi-directional O&D passengers flew between these two markets, with Madrid dominating the flows. The Amsterdam – Santiago market accounts for 2.3 per cent of this total.