{"id":110815,"date":"2021-06-17T10:23:47","date_gmt":"2021-06-17T08:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/?p=110815"},"modified":"2023-01-04T17:19:08","modified_gmt":"2023-01-04T16:19:08","slug":"interview-latam-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/interview-latam-france","title":{"rendered":"Interview with : Thibaud Morand, Managing Director Europe, LATAM"},"content":{"rendered":"

LATAM is the leading carrier in South America, with a network of over 150 destinations and five bases - Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The airline offers flights to Europe from its three hubs in Lima, Santiago de Chile and Peru. Sao Paulo<\/a>. It offers connections to around a hundred destinations on the sub-continent.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are LATAM's flights to Europe resuming more than a year after the start of the pandemic?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"LATAM\"
Thibaud Morand, Managing Director Europe LATAM<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Thibaud Morand -<\/strong> Before the pandemic, LATAM served half a dozen European destinations in Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and the UK. We have gradually resumed our traffic. Starting with Spain, for obvious geopolitical and historical reasons, with our flights on Madrid<\/a><\/strong>. Then also in Germany<\/strong>where demand remains strong. We now return to Paris<\/strong>. For the time being, our flights to Lisbon and London remain suspended due to health restrictions. However, we are fairly optimistic about the recovery of our network. In addition to Portugal and the UK, we could add another destination in Europe by 2022<\/strong>. A priori Barcelona<\/strong> or Milan<\/strong>. By winter 2021, we want to offer at least one daily flight from each of our European ports of call<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the reasons for a return to Paris when travel conditions are still not in place for French people wishing to visit South America?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Thibaud Morand - <\/strong>The idea was to return to Paris<\/strong> for a long time, but we had to postpone this return twice. In fact, it was the reopening of borders to travellers vaccinated in France that motivated us. We are certain that the French will soon benefit from similar travel restrictions. Which means we need to be ready to respond immediately to demand. So we're going to relaunch our Boeing 787-8 flights on 5 July<\/strong> in two-class configuration. We propose three weekly frequencies on the Paris CDG-Sao Paulo-Santiago route<\/strong>. With a gradual increase to five flights a week over the summer and a daily flight from November. In parallel in Paris, we are relaunching the Madrid-Lima route in July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business travel is likely to find it difficult to return to pre-pandemic traffic levels<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Do you expect business traffic to pick up?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Thibaud Morand - <\/strong>Business travel will probably find it difficult to return to pre-pandemic traffic levels. But we sense that there is a need for companies to revisit the market, and I'm more optimistic about the medium term. Our product is in fact ideally positioned to meet demand. The business class was reconfigured at the beginning of 2020 and offers 30 seats in Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n