Latin America and the Caribbean is a wide and a diverse region, home to some of the world’s most populated cities and extreme landscapes. With little or no international transportation infrastructure, air travel is an irreplaceable means of keeping the economic and social flow among the region’s major capitals moving.
The main airlines in the region are responsible for linking these cities
In the following ranking we will see which are the twenty longest non-stop routes within Latin America and the Caribbean, based on information compiled by Aviacionline using Cirium, and the schedule uploaded by the airlines for November 2021.
We consider the orthodromic distance, which for various reasons may not necessarily be the one used in each flight, but it provides us with a certain parameter for comparison.
1- São Paulo (GRU) – Mexico City. The two most important economic centers in the region are, coincidentally, the longest route, separated by 7,422 kilometers.
It is covered by Aeromexico and LATAM, in both cases with a daily flight, and with Boeing 787-9 and Boeing 767-300ER aircraft respectively, totaling 3,465 seats per week in each direction.
2- The Mexican capital is also in second place, in this case by connecting with the third most populated city in the region: Buenos Aires, Argentina. They are separated by 7,377 kilometers.
The route is only covered by Aeromexico with five weekly flights. Two in Boeing 787-8 and three in 787-9, totaling 1,308 seats each way.
3- Mexico City – Santiago de Chile. Separated by 6,573 kilometers, this route is again served by Aeromexico and LATAM.
The Mexican company operates five weekly flights and LATAM, three. Both with Boeing 787-8 aircraft, giving a global offer of 1,956 seats each way.
4- Cancun – Santiago de Chile. Both cities are separated by 6,260 kilometers.
LATAM serves the route only with two weekly flights on Boeing 787-9 aircraft, offering 626 seats each way.
5. Cancun re-appears in this position but is connected to Brasilia, separated by 5,895 kilometers.
Gol flies twice a week on Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, offering 372 seats each way.
6. Santiago de Chile – Punta Cana. Both cities are separated by 5,755 kilometers.
The route is operated only by LATAM with one flight per week in Boeing 787-9 aircraft, totaling 313 seats each way.
7. Panama – Montevideo. They are separated by 5,446 kilometers.
Copa Airlines operates 18 weekly flights on Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, offering 2,988 seats each way. Several of the following seats will be operated by the Panamanian airline.
8. Panama – Buenos Aires. They are separated by 5,330 kilometers.
Copa Airlines operates ten weekly flights. Five in Boeing 737-800 and five in 737 MAX 9. The overall offer is 1,600 seats each way.
9. Panama – Rio de Janeiro. They are separated by 5,287 kilometers.
Copa Airlines operates 10 weekly flights on Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The seat offer is 1,540 seats each way.
10. Panama – Porto Alegre. They are separated by 5,272 kilometers.
Copa Airlines operates 4 weekly flights in Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with an offer of 616 seats each way.
11. Sao Paulo – Punta Cana. They are separated by 5,221 kilometers.
Gol operates one weekly flight in Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, totalizing 186 seats each way.
12. Panama – Sao Paulo. They are separated by 5,076 kilometers.
With 33 weekly flights by Copa Airlines, it is the one with the highest frequency in this ranking. Four are operated with Boeing 737-800 aircraft and 29 with 737 MAX 9. The offer reaches 5,430 seats each way.
13. Panama – Belo Horizonte. They are separated by 5,015 kilometers.
Copa Airlines operates four weekly flights in Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with an offer of 616 seats each way.
14. Panama – Santiago de Chile. They are separated by 4,786 kilometers.
Copa Airlines operates 18 weekly flights in Boeing 737-800 aircraft and six in 737 MAX 9. The offer reaches 3,768 seats per direction.
15. Buenos Aires – Bogotá. They are separated by 4,670 kilometers.
Aerolíneas Argentinas operates three weekly flights on Boeing 737-700 aircraft, while Avianca operates two weekly flights on A319 and 12 on A320. There are 2,472 seats available in each direction.
16. Bogota – Rio de Janeiro. They are separated by 4,534 kilometers.
Avianca operates four weekly flights on A319 and one on A320, totaling 633 seats.
17. Panama – Asuncion. They are separated by 4,476 kilometers.
Copa Airlines operates 14 weekly flights in Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The offer reaches 2,156 seats each way.
18. Panama – Brasilia. They are separated by 4,431 kilometers.
Copa Airlines operates four weekly flights in Boeing 737-800 aircraft, offering 616 seats each way.
19. Bogota – Sao Paulo. They are separated by 4,328 kilometers.
Avianca operates 14 weekly flights (three on A319 and 11 on A320), while LATAM operates six weekly flights on A320. There are 2,571 seats per direction.
20. Mexico City – Lima. They are separated by 4,231 kilometers.
Aeromexico operates one daily flight on Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with 1,120 seats each way.
Beyond the top 20
Moving away from the top 20, the longest route on which an ultra-low-cost carrier is present in Santiago de Chile – Bogotá (4,230 kilometers). JetSMART operates three weekly flights on A320 aircraft, offering 558 seats each way.
Considering secondary city pairs, the longest international route is Antofagasta – Cali, 3,055 kilometers. It is operated by JetSMART with one weekly A320 flight (186 seats each way).
The longest non-stop domestic route is Santiago de Chile – Easter Island, separated by 3,759 kilometers. It is operated by LATAM Airlines with two flights per week in Boeing 787-9 aircraft, offering 626 seats each way (in continental Chile, the longest is Santiago – Punta Arenas, with 2,194 kilometers and served by 27 weekly flights of LATAM, 5 of JetSMART and two of SKY).
If we consider the continental territory, the longest route is Tijuana – Cancun, in Mexico, separated by 3,240 kilometers. Viva Aerobus and Volaris operate a daily flight on Airbus A320 aircraft, offering 2,520 seats each way.
In South America, the longest domestic route is Porto Alegre – Recife, separated by 2,955 kilometers and operated by Azul Linhas Aéreas with twelve weekly A320 flights (2,088 seats each way).
In Argentina, the longest domestic route is Córdoba – Ushuaia, 2,630 kilometers. Aerolíneas Argentinas operates two flights per week in Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
In Colombia, the longest route is Bogota – San Andres, 1,204 kilometers. It has a total of 84 weekly flights (28 by Avianca, 27 by LATAM, 3 by Wingo, and 26 by Viva). There are 14,769 seats available in each direction.
In Peru, the longest route is Iquitos – Lima, 1,011 kilometers. LATAM operates 43 weekly flights and SKY 11, with 9,108 seats per direction.
Quito – Galapagos is the longest domestic route in Ecuador, with 1,328 kilometers, and served by Avianca with 4 weekly A320 flights.
In Bolivia, the longest route is Santa Cruz de la Sierra – Cobija, 950 kilometers apart. It is operated by BoA with two flights per week in Boeing 737-300 aircraft.
Within Central America and the Caribbean, the longest route is Panama – Port of Spain, 1,986 kilometers, operated by Copa Airlines with four weekly flights.
Turboprops
Jets predominate in the ranking, but there is also room for turboprops, which for obvious reasons are on much shorter routes.
But among them, the longest is between São Paulo – Viracopos and Rondonópolis-ROO, a city located in the state of Mato Grosso, 1,078 kilometers away. It is operated by Azul Linhas Aéreas in its ATR 72, with a weekly flight.
The second-longest route is Mexico City – Piedras Negras-PDS, separated by 1,024 kilometers, operated by Aeromar on its ATR 42, with three weekly flights.
The podium is closed by ATSA Airlines, in Peru, which flies between Lima and Punta Sal-TBP (977 kilometers) in its DHC-8-400, with two weekly operations.
