In November 2022, LATAM announced that it would launch an interesting new route. That route has finally started, so I wanted to take a look at the details.
LATAM adds Los Angeles route as of August 2023
As of August 1, 2023, LATAM has launched a 3x weekly service between Sao Paulo (GRU) and Los Angeles (LAX). The flight operates with the following schedule:
LA8086 Sao Paulo to Los Angeles departing 11:20PM arriving 7:35AM (+1 day)
LA8087 Los Angeles to Sao Paulo departing 1:15PM arriving 5:15AM (+1 day)
The 6,156-mile flight is blocked at 12hr15min northbound and 12hr southbound. The northbound flight operates Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, while the southbound flight operates Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
LATAM is using a Boeing 777-300ER for this service, featuring 410 seats. This includes 38 business class seats and 372 economy class seats. All LATAM 777s feature the carrier’s new business class.
How this fits into LATAM’s route network
Prior to this new route, LATAM served Los Angeles from Lima and Santiago, so this is the third route to Los Angeles for the South American mega carrier. Meanwhile this is LATAM Brazil’s fifth route to the United States out of Sao Paulo, complementing service to Boston, Miami, New York, and Orlando.
It’s interesting that there was previously no nonstop link between Los Angeles and Sao Paulo:
- Back in the day Korean Air was the only airline to operate this route nonstop, as the airline had this as a fifth freedom flight
- More recently, American flew the route nonstop, but it didn’t last long, and was pulled as American has scaled down its long haul presence at the airport
LATAM is no longer in oneworld, but rather Delta has purchased a stake in the airline. The two airlines have a joint venture, so presumably the airline thinks it can make this route work with connectivity from Delta.
The thing is, there’s a huge amount of demand between Sao Paulo and Los Angeles. The catch is that fares are generally quite low compared to the distance flown (this is as long as some transpacific flights out of the United States), and there are lots of connecting options. LATAM has the advantage of having good connectivity on both ends, though a 400+ seat plane also isn’t exactly easy to fill. I’m curious to see if this route lasts, or if it eventually gets pulled.
Bottom line
As of August 2023, LATAM has launched a new route between Sao Paulo and Los Angeles using a Boeing 777. This is a market that doesn’t otherwise have nonstop service, as other airlines haven’t been able to make this work. For whatever reason, the west coast of the United States to Brazil is tricky. Hopefully LATAM has better luck, especially with the Delta tie-up.
What do you make of LATAM’s new GRU to LAX route?
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