Hi, dear flight-report members and readers!
In this short FR I'd like to present a retro-review of a LATAM B787-8 on the scenic flight from Santiago de Chile (SCL) to Sao Paulo Guarulhos (GRU), taken on 3 March 2016.
Intro
LATAM - the Latin American aviation powerhouse and a global airline, flying to 5 continents (South America, North America, Europe, Africa, Oceania) - was formed in 2012 by merging of the largest Chilean airline LAN and the largest Brazilian airline TAM, but until the May 2016 these main branches were keeping their brandings and liveries. From 2016 LATAM started gradually repainting the aircrafts into the new unified livery and now all its fleet sports the new livery.
LAN (LATAM Chile) was the airline who pioneered the new-gen aircraft - B787-8 (CC-BBA) in the Americas, and TAM (LATAM Brasil) was the one who pioneered A350-900 in the Americas.
In the FR of the transpacific AKL-SCL flight on LATAM's B789 I shared my memories of my first Dreamliner flight - it was very scenic and impressive GRU-SCL flight (with amazing views of thunderstorm cells over Sao Paulo area, emerald Brazilian highlands with crazy meandring Chapeco and Uruguay rivers and - as the icing on the cake - crossing the Andes near mount Aconcagua, the top of the western hemisphere) on a LATAM B787-9 (then in the old LAN livery). Before this flight, having arrived to GRU from SDU, I got to see the first A359 of the Americas (PR-XTA), which was departing for Manaus (a year later I flew MXP-GRU on PR-XTB - the 2nd A359 in the Americas). Unfortunately, during Covid LATAM had to go through Chapter 11 restructurization and had to shed off all its A359, which then joined the fleets of Delta Air Lines (the new LA's partner) and Edelweiss Air, retaining original 2-class C30_Y309 layout with very comfortable Safran Z300 seats (of generous 18" width) in economy (which are incomparably comfortable than narrow and hard Recaro CL3710 seats in DL's original A359s and WK's A343s).
Little did I know then that my return flight SCL-GRU will be operated by the first Dreamliner of the Americas!
Santiago de Chile A. Merino Benitez Airport (SCL)
SCL, located north-west from Santiago and connected by bus service with Pajaritas and Los Heroes subway stations, then had only one Terminal 1, divided between international and domestic gates. Being relatively modern it was, though, already showind its age. In 2019-2022 the new big shining ultra-modern T2 with the main building and 4 concourses was built and all the international flights were transferred there, leaving T1 only for domestic flights.
As my flight LA750 was departing early, I spend the night in the international gates area.
The Aircraft
When I went to my gate, I discovered that my flight will be operated by 2012-built CC-BBA - the first Dreamliner in Americas! Back then it sported the old LAN livery with the dedicated sticker and had 2-class layout C30_Y217 with Zodiac Aura Lite seats in business class in 2-2-2 layout and Collins Pinnacle seats in economy, but in 2025 was reconfigured into new 2-class layout C20_Y251 with Recaro R7 (CL6720) seats in business in 1-2-1 layout with privacy doors and Recaro PL3710 (lipstick on the infamous "pig" CL3710) in economy. Currently only 2 out of 8 LA B788s (CC-BBD and BBF) retains the old C30_Y217 layout, but will be reconfigured soon. Also, as the rest of the LATAM fleet, all the B788s were repainted into the new livery.
The Business Cabin
The business class back then consisted of 30 Zodiac Aura Lite seats in 2-2-2 layout, distributed between 2 cabins: the larger front one (between 1L/R and 2L/R doors) having 18 seats and the smaller second one (after 2L/R doors), having 12 seats. In the new C20_Y251 layout the business class consists of just 1 cabin between 1L/R and 2L/R doors.
A view of the front business cabin.
A couple of views of the second business cabin.
The Economy Cabin
The economy class back then consisted of 217 seats in 3-3-3 layout, distributed between 2 cabins: the front one between the second business cabin and 3L/R doors and the rear one between 3L/R and 4L/R doors.
In the new layout the front economy cabin occupies the entire space between 2L/R and 3L/R doors as the footprint of the business cabin was decreased.
Couple of views of the front economy cabin.
The Economy Seat
My seat was 31A in the middle part of the rear economy cabin. The economy seat model back then was comfortable Collins Pinnacle. These seats were indentical to those in older LA B789s, so, I guess, the seatwidth was the same - 17.3", standard for 3-3-3 Dreamliner. The row pitch was OK. The seat had adjustable headrest, IFE (modern back then, but obsolete for today's standards) with fixed-mount screen, USB port, tray table, cup holder and seat pocket.
Waiting on the seat were pillow, blanket and headset.
The content of the seatpocket: safety card, inflight magazine and duty-free magazine.
The Flight
We departed on time. Upon pushback safety video was played:
Takeoff with morning Santiago in sight.
The coastal Cordillera and its valleys, covered by a layer of clouds.
Crossing the Andes. As I was sitting on the left side, this time I missed the view of Acongagua on the right, but it was in backlight, and on my side the light was optimal.
This time I got to see mighty Parana river.
Then was served the breakfast - good omelette with fruit salad. Even a glass for wine was included. The cutlery was metallic with LAN logos. The level of service in both Chilean and Brazilian LATAMs back in 2016-2017 was very high. The Chilean and Brazilian crews are one of the most friendliest in the world.
The overhead panel (having personal airvents, which is nice) and inflight cabin moodlighting.
Tour de lavatorie.
A view of the front economy cabin during drink service.
The 4L door.
Exploring IFE menu inflight.
Dreamliner's window in the semi-transparent mode.
Convective activity over Brazilian Plateau as we are nearing Sao Paulo area.
Sao Paulo, partially covered by clouds.
Landing in GRU was bumpy due to convective current, concerned with forming afternoon thunderstorms.
The Economy Cabin After The Flight
A view of the front economy cabin upon disembarkment.
The Business Cabin After The Flight
A couple of views of the second business cabin in details upon disembarkment.
The Aircraft After The Flight
A view of the portside RR Trent 1000 engine from the jetbridge.
A view of the nose from the jetbridge.
From the arrival gallery it was possible to take photos of the aircraft from the best angles, lit by the sun under the dark clouds of the upcoming thunderstorm.
Thank you for your attention and see you in the next FRs!
Pre-Pandemic LATAM was the best airline in Latin America (possible all of the Americas)...I haven't flown them on LH routes since then, I hope they kept up with their good service.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for comment! I flew post-pandemic LA from AKL to SCL across the Pacific and was rather disappointed - by weak service and by "Blindliner" mode the entire flight. The crews are nice as before, the seats in older 789s are comfy as before, but everything else turned to gray.
I hate the "blindliner" mode...but was there anything worth watching?
I'm sure there must've been worthy views, at least views of the Chilean coast from above (I once flew domestic SCL-PNT-SCL along the half of the country, and it was impressive).
Over the Pacific - probably no, because due to ETOPS Dreamliners go far from the Antarctics (whereas now-long-gone QF B744s often flew close to Antarctics on SCL-SYD flights).