The inaugural Qantas flight from Sydney to Santiago has departed from Australia, opening up new travel opportunities between the country and South America.

Qantas will offer three return services a week on the Sydney-Santiago route (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday), operated by a Boeing 747 that has been refurbished with award-winning A380-style cabins, seats and in-flight entertainment.

LAN Airlines will codeshare on the Qantas services while the Australian airline will continue to codeshare on LAN’s daily services between Sydney and Santiago via Auckland.

As fellow oneworld members, Qantas and LAN will continue to work together to promote travel between Australia, Chile and the broader South American region.

Group executive Qantas Airlines commercial, Rob Gurney, said Qantas was delighted to launch services to Santiago.

“Santiago is one of South America’s most dynamic business centres and provides excellent connections to the rest of the continent,” Gurney said.

“There are strong ties between Australia and South America, with growing visitor numbers, mutual investment and an Australia-Chile free trade agreement in place.

“Flying to Santiago is part of Qantas’ strategy to target global gateway cities. South America’s fast growing economies make it the perfect time to introduce this new, non-stop service to one of the region’s major hubs.”