MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Global and regional poor rating for Chilean air facilities

Santiago airport

Bad flight connections, long waiting lines and restricted flight options are some of the reasons a recent World Economic Forum study placed Chile 7th among Latin American nations in airline services. Worldwide, Chile ranked 50th, with a 3.4 mark on a scale of one to seven.

Only four airlines are operating domestically in Chile; Lan Chile, Sky airline, Aerolíneas del Sur and Air Comet, and only seven airports receive international flights. Lack of airline options means that for a traveler to fly Santiago to Arica, the traveler must arrive at the airport before six a.m. According to the director of Chile's National Tourism Service (SERNATUR), Óscar Santelices, the bad flight connectivity has nothing to do with Chile's airport infrastructure. Chilean airports, said Santelices, are modern and internationally well ranked. He explained that Chile is a small country and not well situated to offer much more international flights. Expanding flight supply in general is a risk that few airlines want to take. Still the number of international flights in Chile, --now counting for 400 flights a week-- increased by 23% in 2007. The number of incoming tourists is expected to increase to about 3 million in 2010. In 2006, 2.2 million tourists visited Chile. The Santiago Times