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Inside LAN's Engine Shop at Their Santiago Airport Maintenance Base

Where: Santiago, Chile
April 13, 2012 at 10:03 AM | by | Comments (0)

General Electric. Pratt & Whitney. Rolls Royce. Sound familiar? Sure, as appliances and cars, maybe, but these companies are also very much into the business of manufacturing airplane engines. And just like when airplanes go into a hangar for maintenance, so too do their engines have a special work area.

Welcome to the Engine Shop for LAN Airlines, located right nearby Santiago, Chile's Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport.

It's really odd to stand in a room so clean it's almost sterile, and be surrounded by machines that not only cost something like $13 million each, but are responsible for hundreds or thousands of lives every day, each again. You know, we could walk into Harry Winston on Fifth Avenue and look at velvet-lined trays of jewelry worth just as much and more, but the pendants and tiaras don't do anything. Next to an engine, however, we were left with a profound sense that here, right here, is a real machine, something worth every raw cent spent on it and every cent (sometimes $3 million) spent to keep it in tiptop condition.

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Inside LAN's Neruda VIP Lounge at Santiago Airport

Where: Santiago, Chile
March 23, 2012 at 10:29 AM | by | Comments (0)

Away from the prying eyes of economy passengers at Santiago Chile's Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport sit two "VIP Salons," as LAN calls their lounges. Both are named for famous Chilean poets—Mistral and Neruda—and both have almost the same amenities. BUT! But you've already seen inside the Mistral lounge, and not the Neruda. Until now.

Just down from Gate 20 in the International Terminal, the Neruda VIP Salon has two food and drink bars, several seating areas (including one area just of cozy cream leather chairs), a length of semi-private workstations and—YAY—shower rooms. Oh yes, and free, fast WiFi.

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RNP: Three Little Letters That Mean Big Things for Modern, Eco-Friendly Flying

Where: Lima, Peru
March 20, 2012 at 3:32 PM | by | Comments (0)

"Terrain challenged" isn't exactly what you want to hear about the airport where your flight will be landing, but thanks to technology (thanks, technology!), it's now a cause for excitement rather than worry. Add this acronym to your travel vocabulary: RNP, or "Required Navigation Performance."

RNP is the hip, new navigation system that uses satellites and 3D calculations to devise the best route into an airport. Alaska Airlines, Southwest, Qantas and a couple others are old hats at using RNP by now, but LAN only made the switch in February to using the technology for the entire flight.

The lucky inaugural RNP route: Cusco-Lima, Peru. Though passengers onboard were more concerned with taking snapshots out the window of the dramatic Andean scenery, the pilots up front were enjoying 30.5 km shorter flying distance, 6.3 fewer minutes in the air, 644 kg less CO2 released into the air and 67.5 gallons of fuel saved—and that's just on a single flight!

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All the Food Onboard LAN Between New York and Santiago, Chile

Where: Santiago, Chile
March 16, 2012 at 12:23 PM | by | Comments (0)

Look out of the windows by your gate at the airport, before boarding a flight, and you'll likely spot the catering truck raised up to load its munchies directly into the airplane. There's a mystery about it, like "ooh ooh wonder what we'll get?" If you're flying LAN Airlines to South America, the answer to this questions is "something good from Gate Gourmet," to put it simply.

Although menus differ from route to route, there's still some standards to look for on LAN long-haul flights. For one, expect Chilean and Argentinean wine selections (even in economy), Pisco Sours in Business Class on flights to and from Chile and Peru, quality beef as an entree option, and a dessert incorporating dulce de leche. All this we saw and devoured ourselves on a recent roundtrip between New York-JFK and Santiago, Chile onboard one of LAN's 767s.

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What's the Deal with Stemless Wine Glasses on Airplanes?

March 7, 2012 at 3:04 PM | by | Comments (2)

It's been decades since a fully stemmed wine glass last flew in First Class. Sip some Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon with your in-flight meal these days and you'll perhaps notice a trend towards flatter, squattier cup shapes. Why? Well, the simple answer is to say that the airplane is moving around in the sky and passengers would rather have their red wine in a glass than on their clothing. The correct answer, however, is all about design and enjoyment.

In-flight wine glasses have evolved along with appreciation for proper tasting and, as a result, properly shaped tasting glasses. Onboard LAN in both Premium Business and Economy classes, the carefully chosen wine options are poured into a stemless glass, thinner in economy and the fuller "Globe"-style in Business. The minimal designs are not so much for cost-cutting or space savings as they are for enhancing the total wine experience.

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All Around Premium Business Class on LAN Airlines to Chile

Where: Santiago, Chile
March 2, 2012 at 4:58 PM | by | Comments (2)

Two words, or, rather, one hyphenated word: lie-flat. On a 10.5-hour direct flight overnight, how low your seat goes should be concern numero uno. The Premium Business Class cabin on LAN's Boeing 767 is made of 30 true lie-flat seats, meaning there's no angle when it's all the way down, and you're sleeping for 7 hours on the way to Chile. BOOM.

Of course that's just a small part of Biz Class on LAN, but the rest is experiential...wining, dining, catching up on 30 Rock, you know. We'll have more on the meals early next week, so for now enjoy our slew of photos, and the hard facts below.

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Inside Economy Class on LAN Airlines' Long-Haul Boeing 767s

Where: Santiago, Chile
March 2, 2012 at 3:44 PM | by | Comments (0)

At 10 hours, 50 minutes, the LAN Airlines direct flight (LA 533) between New York-JFK and Santiago de Chile-Arturo Merino Benitez International isn't anything to sniff at. Longer than a Europe hop but shorter than an Asia haul, the South America jaunt is enough time to enjoy a leisurely dinner, a movie and a quality snooze—yes, even in Economy Class.

Economy is 191 seats behind only 30 Premium Business seats up front on a LAN 767-300ER. On an A340-300, you'll find a few more seats, but nothing too different. Regardless, you're in that ergonomic, upholstered seat for the long haul to the southern hemisphere.

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Window Seat Required: The Five Most Scenic Flight Routes in South America

February 28, 2012 at 4:20 PM | by | Comment (1)

If you think the above photo is beautiful—it's our Andes sunrise view from LAN Airlines flight 533 from JFK to SCL—then get ready to have your mind blown.

South America is a land of such staggering terrain, from desert to glaciers and rainforest to snow-capped peaks, that flying over it without requesting a window seat is a grave mistake.

For Marcelo Grether, Global Tourism Director at LAN and possessor of maybe the best job ever, the important thing is not so much getting passengers to want to fly LAN, but getting travelers to want to experience South America. And when you make that decision... "You want to go to South America? There is LAN."

Now, which route? Using Marcelo's knowledge and a passion to experience the extremes, we've figured out The Five Most Scenic LAN Flight Routes in South America:

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There's Something Sexy About LAN...

Where: Santiago, Chile
February 27, 2012 at 6:04 PM | by | Comments (0)

Is there a such thing as a sexy airline? Many have tried, most have failed; only Virgin Atlantic and the small assortment of other Virgin airlines seem to pull of seduction-by-air-travel these days—that is, until we managed a closer look at the red line in the logo of LAN Airlines.

Just look at it above. You've likely already spotted the star and line logo gliding around tarmacs on LAN's blue plane tails, but what does it all mean? The short answer, according to Fernanda Toro, LAN's Vice President of Travel Experience (awesome title), is that the star embodies the warmth and confidence of the airline, or "Encanto" (enchantment). That line though, that red swish that appears everywhere from the in-flight china to the cabin design? That's pure sex.

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Operation Flower Flight: How LAN Airlines Makes Valentine's Day Possible

Where: Santiago, Chile
February 17, 2012 at 10:14 AM | by | Comments (0)

Oh hey there cutie, did someone give you flowers for Valentine's Day?

If you're smiling at a bouquet of fresh blooms this week, take a moment to think about the journey they had to make before ending up in that crystal vase you bought at a garage sale. Unless you picked them from your backyard or purchased them from a local greenhouse, there's a huge chance each flower had a ticket on LAN Airlines, up from South America.

Indeed, just for the big rush before flower-heavy holidays (Valentine's, Mother's Day, Christmas and Thanksgiving), LAN's cargo airplanes ship in some 15 million bouquets, the majority of which are red roses, followed by carnations, pompons and chrysanthemum. Overall they transport around 30% of the entire world's flower market year-round.

Fun fact! During the week before V-day, "168 flights will carry flowers from Colombia and Ecuador—this means that every 2 hours, a LAN CARGO aircraft full of flowers is taking off."

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All Sorts of South America Travel News from LAN Airlines

February 1, 2012 at 4:53 PM | by | Comments (0)

Okay everyone, ready for some serious South America travel news? So LAN—which is really a group of airlines including LAN Chile, LAN Ecuador, LAN Argentina, LAN Express and LAN Colombia—made all kinds of changes, for the better, to their routes and in-flight service today, February 1.

· First off, LAN Colombia (which only really started as an airline in December 2012 after LAN took over Colombian airline AIRES) is now flying direct from Miami to Bogota. The inaugural hit the skies earlier today, complete with a visit from Juan Valdez, who served the passengers their in-flight coffees. Fares for this new route, which runs four times weekly on Airbus A320s, are $400 roundtrip, including taxes & fees, if booked by February 6. Of course, you can go straight through to booking via their Facebook page.

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LAN Launches a LGBT Travel Website, Just in Time for Carnivale

Where: Chile
January 19, 2012 at 3:05 PM | by | Comments (0)

Latin America's largest air carrier has expanded their horizons by tapping the lucrative LGBT travel market and launching a full travel website devoted to gay travel in South America. LAN Airlines' fresh site is an extension of the main page for the airline, but has features to celebrate the diversity that the continent offers to gay and lesbian travelers.

Believe it or not, LAN isn't the first airline to be as open online as they are open-minded; they join the ranks of Delta, Virgin America and Southwest in their commitment to inclusion. The carrier also will be a competitor for American Airlines, which consistently takes top honors as "Best Airline" to the gay community.

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