In an announcement made to the Turkish capital disclosure platform, Turkish Airlines confirmed that it will fly to Santiago de Chile.
The brief message addressed to the markets indicates that «Our Incorporation decided to start operating scheduled flights to Santiago, capital of Chile, based on market conditions,» although it does not detail frequencies or the start date.
However, last Monday at Aviacionline we had reported that the Operations Registration System Manual (SIROS) of the Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC) of Brazil revealed that Turkish Airlines registered operations between Istanbul (IST) and Santiago (SCL) of Chile, with a stopover in São Paulo/Guarulhos (GRU), Brazil, exercising the fifth freedom of the air.
According to SIROS, the airline intends to land in Chile on December 12, 2024 with up to four flights per week on Airbus A350-900 aircraft, with a capacity of 324 seats, providing an offer of 2,632 seats per week.
Now it remains for the airline to confirm the rest of the information.
Turkish Airlines had revealed that Santiago (SCL) would be one of the new medium-term destinations in a report published in September 2022. But the following year, the president of Turkish Airlines, Ahmet Bolat, said during a press conference held within the framework of the 79th IATA Annual General Assembly in Istanbul that for the moment they ruled out adding Santiago de Chile to their Latin American network, as they did not have enough and correct aircraft to serve it non-stop.
Subsequent to the publication of this news, Nuevo Pudahuel, concessionaire of Santiago airport, also confirmed the arrival of Turkish Airlines through a publication on social networks:
¡BUENAS NOTICIAS! Como Nuevo Pudahuel, nos complace anunciar una nueva aerolínea que conectará el Aeropuerto de Santiago con Estambul. Hablamos de @TurkishAirlines con 4 frecuencias semanales. Seguimos potenciando la conectividad del principal aeropuerto de Chile con el mundo. pic.twitter.com/uAie8stQuY
— Aeropuerto de Santiago ✈️ Nuevo Pudahuel (@NuevoPudahuel) July 26, 2024
Tentative Turkish programming in Santiago
Based on ANAC Brazil – Subject to confirmation
- Istanbul – São Paulo flight TK 215 IST 14:50 – 04:30 (+1) GRU / Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
- São Paulo – Santiago flight TK 215 GRU 06:05 – 10:00 SCL / Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday.
- Santiago – São Paulo flight TK 216 SCL 11:55 – 15:30 GRU / Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday.
- São Paulo – Istanbul flight TK 216 GRU 17:05 – 05:35 (+1) IST / Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday.
If materialized, Santiago would become Turkish’s ninth destination in Latin America, after Buenos Aires (Argentina), São Paulo (Brazil), Bogotá (Colombia), Havana (Cuba), Mexico City and Cancún (Mexico), Panama City (Panama), and Caracas (Venezuela).
Additionally, it will compete in the market between Santiago and São Paulo, widely dominated by LATAM (70 weekly flights), SKY (21), and JetSMART (21). According to the Civil Aviation Board (JAC) of Chile, it is the third most important international route in the country, having transported 663,476 passengers during the first half of 2024.
