LAN, a member of LATAM Airlines Group, and Qantas, both members of the oneworld airline alliance, have reinforced their codeshare agreement and will begin offering flights within Oceania and South America.

Passengers flying with LAN from Santiago de Chile to Sydney will have access via Qantas to a broad network of cities in Australia: Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Perth, Darwin, Hobart and Alice Springs.

The link up on both outbound and inbound flights will start on August 9th.

Flights can be purchased now.

In addition, from Auckland, round trip flights to Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth in Australia, are available to LAN passengers on Qantas aircraft.

For Qantas passengers travelling to Chile, they can fly with LAN from Santiago to Antofagasta, La Serena and Punta Arenas from August 5th.

They can also fly to other countries in the region: from Santiago to Lima from August 20th, and to Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro on round-trip flights from October 8th.

Damian Scokin, chief executive, international business at LAN, commented: “We are pleased to strengthen our partnership with Qantas and to add eight Australian cities to our network of destinations, which are located in key points of the island continent and allow access to the most attractive tourist destinations in Australia.”

LAN currently operates seven weekly flights between Santiago and Sydney, which added to the three that Qantas operates, totals ten round trip flights per week.

As members of oneworld, LAN and Qantas offer reciprocal benefits in their frequent flyer programs, allowing LANPASS and Frequent Flyer members to earn and redeem miles/kilometres on both airlines.

Now, thanks to the agreement, passengers have greater benefit opportunities when travelling between South America and Oceania with these airlines.

Meanwhile, Qantas executive manager international sales, Stephen Thompson, said: “This is great news for Qantas customers, with greater access to popular destinations in South America than ever before. Santiago has been a key gateway for our customers since we started flying there in 2012.

“This development will strengthen its prominence as a hub for onward connections, offering the additional customer benefits of a codeshare service - more opportunities to earn frequent flyer points and luggage checked straight through to their final destination.”