LATAM Brasil confirmed the start of operation with the Boeing 787 as of December. There will be four aircraft incorporated into the fleet and that were in use by LATAM Chile.
The first of the jets is already in Brazil, being prepared for certification flights this month. The debut in revenue flight is scheduled for the second half of December on the Sao Paulo-Madrid route, said the company.
LATAM has said it will achieve 50% training and maintenance cost savings thanks to commonality with the carrier’s other widebody aircraft such as the 767 and 777.
The four 787s will be operated by 200 pilots and 900 flight attendants who currently fly the Boeing 777, the company added.
“The decision to put into operation in Brazil a model that was already used by the Group comes to generate more efficiency for international operations, which will now have a single fleet – that of the Boeing family, with the 767, 777 and 787. the most competitive company to return to this market,” said Jerome Cadier, CEO of LATAM Brasil.
The aircraft will cover part of the gap left with the Airbus A350-900, whose fleet was taken out of service this year.
The arrival of the 787s from Chile took place thanks to the agreement between the ANAC (National Civil Aviation Agency) of Brazil and the DGAC (Dirección General de Aviación Civil) of Chile, which allowed the exchange of aircraft from the same group, as long as they were operated in territory with national pilots from that location.
