aviation - the past, present and future of flight

I

t is just after 2pm on a recent Saturday

afternoon and I am about to board a

 ight from Madrid to Frankfurt. But

this is no narrowbody, operated by

one of the European low-cost or mainline

carriers, it’s a Chilean-registered Boeing

787 Dreamliner of LATAM Airlines! Some

months earlier, while researching air fares

for my trip, my attention was grabbed by

a  ight – appearing to be operated by

LATAM Airlines. Knowing there are many

codeshare services, I did a little more

digging to con rm the sector is, indeed,

 own daily by LATAM using the modern

Dreamliner.

Flight LA704 starts its journey from

Santiago’s Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez

International Airport at 3.40pm and lands

at Madrid Barajas International Airport at

12.10pm the next day. It continues onto

Frankfurt in the mid-afternoon and makes

the return journey that evening. My one-way

ticket from Madrid to Frankfurt was just £39

(the lowest price available is £33), which

included 8kg (18lb) of hand luggage and a

generous 22kg (48.5lb) baggage allowance

to be checked into the hold.

Online check-in was available 48 hours

before departure, which I found very user-

A DREAM EUROPEAN

SHORT-HAUL FLIGHT

Enthusiasts who enjoy fl ying on different airlines and aircraft

can travel on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner inter-European

service using a South American carrier, for just £33.

Spencer Bennett samples the service.

24 Aviation News incorporating Jets March 2018

Above: LATAM Airlines has 24 Dreamliners:

ten -8s and 14 -9s. AirTeamImages.com/Carlos

Enamorado

Below: A LATAM Airlines Boeing 787-9 taxies

to its stand after arriving in Madrid. All photos

Spencer Bennett unless stated

24-26_latamDC.mfDC.indd 24 02/02/2018 14:30