LAN Named the ‘Best Airline in South America’
LAN Airlines (now LATAM Airlines), a member of LATAM Airlines Group, was named the Best Airline in South America in the Skytrax World Airline Awards at the Farnborough International Airshow on July 12. The awards are organized each year by international air transport rating organization, Skytrax Research, and are based on the world’s largest airline passenger satisfaction survey, which in 2016 involved the evaluation of 280 airlines by more than 19 million passengers representing 104 different nationalities.
On receiving the award, José Maluf, vice president of fleet, LATAM Airlines Group, said, “It is a great honor to be recognized once again as the ‘Best Airline in South America’. The World Airline Awards are based on the opinions of passengers from across the globe and are an important way of gauging the products and services that our customers value the most.”
LAN has now been named the ‘Best Airline in South America’ for four successive years and either LAN or TAM – both members of LATAM Airlines Group – has held this accolade consecutively since 2000.
During the Skytrax World Airline Survey, which was carried out between August and May, LAN and TAM adopted the unified brand, LATAM Airlines. The first commercial flight of a LATAM-branded aircraft departed on 5 May 2016 and customers can now buy tickets via the LATAM website, accumulate kilometers using LATAM’s frequent flyer program, check-in at LATAM counters and relax in LATAM VIP lounges.
The implementation of the new brand is expected to take approximately three years.
“As LATAM Airlines, we aim to emulate the success of both LAN and TAM in recent years, by continuing to simplify and improve the passenger experience through digital innovation and showcasing Latin American culture,” added Maluf.
Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax, said, "We congratulate the staff and management of LAN Airlines for their achievement of being named Best Airline in South America. At a time of great change in the South American aviation market, this is of course the last time we will welcome the LAN Airlines name to the awards. We hope that with the new brand of LATAM Airlines the travel experience will continue to meet and exceed their customer's expectations."
This year’s World Airline Awards ceremony was hosted at the world’s largest aerospace exhibition,the Farnborough International Airshow, which is held biennially in the birthplace of British aviation– Farnborough, located 40 miles west of London.
