South American carrier, LATAM Airlines has postponed its return to South African skies for now. Here are the details…
Flying Brazil to South Africa after three years
LATAM Airlines recently announced an unfortunate postponement of its returning São Paulo, Brazil and Johannesburg, South Africa route.
The airline confirmed late last year that it would be resuming this commercial route which had been on hold for three years due to COVID-19.
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The Brazil to South Africa route was scheduled to resume on 3 August 2023, with three weekly flights using the airline’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, but now, according to Simple Flying, the date has been pushed to 2 September instead.
From 2 September, flight services will begin departing São Paulo on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays and from Johannesburg on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
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A boost for tourism recovery
As previously reported, Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa, told Travel News that Brazil and Argentina were key source markets for South Africa and this route resumption would indeed go a long way towards boosting tourism recovery in the country.
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Tshivhengwa added that the move by the carrier signalled confidence in South Africa as a tourism destination and would be a massive boost for the tourism industry, which had been hard hit by the pandemic.
