World Country Guide

Travel - International

Air
Chile has one privately owned national airline: LAN-Chile (LA) (website: www.lan.com), which deals with international flights. Its subsidary, Lanexpress (LU) deals with domestic flights.

Approximate flight times
From Santiago to London is 16 hours 30 minutes.

International airports
Santiago (SCL) (Arturo Merino Benitez) (website: www.aeropuertosantiago.cl). The airport is 17km (11 miles) northwest of Santiago (travel time – 30 minutes). Bus services to the city centre operate 24 hours a day. Return is from the underground stations Los Hroes, Estacin Central and Las Rejas or Moneda/corner of San Martn. Taxis to the city are also available. Official taxis are blue with official documentation. Airport facilities include bar, bureaux de change, restaurants, car hire, post office and tourist office.

Air passes
The Mercosur Airpass: Valid within Argentina, Brazil, Chile (except Easter Island), Paraguay and Uruguay. Participating airlines include Austral (AU), LAN-Chile (LA), LAPA (MJ), Pluna (PU), Transbrasil Airlines (TR) and VARIG (RG), with the subsidiary airlines of Nordeste (JH) and Rio Sul (SL). The pass can only be purchased by passengers who live outside South America and who have a return ticket. Only eight flight coupons are allowed with a maximum of four coupons for each country and is valid for seven to a maximum of 30 days. At least two countries must be visited (to a maximum of five) and the flight route cannot be changed. A maximum of two stopovers is allowed per country.
The Visit South America Pass: Must be bought outside South America in country of residence and allows unlimited travel to 36 cities in the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile (except Easter Island), Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. To be eligible, passengers must fly with Lan airlines (LanChile, LanEcuador or LanPeru). A minimum of three flights must be booked, with no maximum; the maximum stay is 60 days, with no minimum, and prices depend on the amount of flight zones covered. There is no discount for children, although infants travelling without need of a seat may do so free of charge. For further details, contact one of the participating airlines.

Departure tax
US$26 for distances over 500km.

Sea
The principal port is Empremar in Valparaso. Important shipping lines are Compaa Chilena de Navegacin Interocenica (CCNI) (website: www.ccni.cl); Compaa Argentina de Navegacin Dodero (CADND) (from Buenos Aires); Compaa Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) (from New York and European ports) (website: www.csav.cl); Delta Line Cruises (from the USA via the Panama Canal); Holland America Line; Norwegian Cruise Line; and Silversea Cruises.

Rail
Some rail connections with neighbouring countries use buses for part of the journey. There are trains running between Arica and Tacna in Peru and La Paz in Bolivia.

Road
The Pan American Highway enters Chile through Arica. TEPSA buses come to Chile from as far north as Ecuador. There are also services from Argentina and Brazil to Santiago.