One year after launching their Joint Venture, Delta and LATAM have announced six new routes, flown 15,000 flights, and transported over 3 million customers. It covered over 56 million miles (90 million kilometres), equivalent to the distance between Earth and Mercury.

The partners are celebrating the milestone and looking ahead, with the goal of significantly enhancing connection and the customer experience for travel between North America (the United States and Canada) and South America (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay).

Delta and LATAM have already launched new services between Orlando and Bogota, Colombia, operated by LATAM and between So Paulo and Los Angeles, operated by LATAM, the only direct route between Brazil and the United States West Coast.

On 29 October, the partners will launch additional new routes and increase current routes with LATAM’s new Medellin-Miami service operated by LATAM’s new service between Lima and Atlanta, adding to Delta’s existing service and Delta’s second frequency between Atlanta and Bogota, which will add to Delta’s existing service.

Delta continues to introduce new routes in December, with Atlanta-Cartagena on 22 December, seasonal service between New York JFK and Rio de Janeiro on 16 December, and, in response to growing demand, Delta’s seasonal service between Atlanta and Rio de Janeiro, which returns on 16 December, will now operate year-round.

“We are thrilled to mark the first anniversary of our transformative partnership,” said Alex Antilla, Delta Air Lines’ Vice President of Latin America. “We’re connecting North and South America and attracting new customers by working together.” We’ve worked hard to add exciting new routes, expand current routes, and make travel easier, more enjoyable, and more rewarding for millions of customers. As we look ahead, we intend to build on this extraordinary first year by offering exceptional services and reinforcing our bonds with customers who travel between the two continents. We are excited to continue on this incredible journey.”

“Thanks to our alliance with Delta, our passengers can not only rely on more flights and faster connections to access over 300 destinations but also enjoy greater benefits,” said Martin St. George, Chief Commercial Officer of LATAM Airlines Group. “These include the joint accumulation of miles or points in frequent traveller programmes, access for eligible travellers to more than 50 Delta Sky Club lounges in the United States and five LATAM Lounges in South America and much more.”

During the Joint Venture’s first year, the partners have streamlined travel and grown connections in their key hubs:

• Miami, LATAM’s main gateway to the United States, increased capacity by 10%, growing connectivity opportunities to the 1.7 million seats Delta offered from Miami. Delta has also announced additional routes from Miami to Orlando and Los Angeles in the last year, with a new service to Washington, DC, set to launch this autumn, offering customers even more connection opportunities.

• The partners offered approximately one million tickets on 3,500 flights to South America from Atlanta, Delta’s primary hub and the world’s largest. The growth was driven by a 50% increase in key routes connecting to LATAM hubs in So Paulo, Brazil (GRU); Bogota, Colombia (BOG); Lima, Peru (LIM); and Santiago, Chile (SCL).

• Delta and LATAM offered more than one million seats at the New York hub, while the partners raised capacity by 40% at the Los Angeles hub.

Delta and LATAM expect to continue adding new routes and greater benefits in the coming months in order to enhance the travel experience for customers flying between North America and South America.