Logan to Brazil now nonstop
Unveils year-round service
LATAM Airlines Brazil will begin yearround nonstop flights between Boston’s Logan International Airport and Sao Paulo, Brazil, next summer, the Massachusetts Port Authority said yesterday.
Brazil has long been on Massport’s list for direct international service. The Bay State is home to the second largest number of Brazilian-born residents in the United States at close to 57,000, behind only Florida. Framingham, Marlboro and Malden are among the top 10 U.S. cities with the most Brazilian-born residents.
LATAM Airlines Brazil is part of Chile’s LATAM Airlines Group. It also flies out of Miami, Orlando, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and New York.
Boston also is a big market for LATAM when it comes to tour operators, according to Pablo Chiozza, LATAM’s vice president for the United States, Canada and Caribbean.
“Lots of big tour operators are based in the New England area and … are currently working with us on different destinations including Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile and Brazil, but Brazil is not wellserved from Boston,” Chiozza said.
And, he added, “There are … corporations that are not only in Boston, but in the New England area, that are doing business in Brazil.”
LATAM wouldn’t disclose a start date for the flights, or the number that it would offer per week. It will use Boeing 767s with 30 business and 191 economy seats.
“Our large Brazilian immigrant community in Massachusetts travels often to Brazil to reconnect with friends, family and loved ones, and so we welcome any opportunity to make that journey easier and more comfortable,” said Paulo Pinto, executive director of Cambridgebased Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers.
Sao Paulo is Brazil’s financial center and Latin America’s largest health care hub, and the state of Sao Paulo has more than 500 universities.
“Another major South American gateway city is now connected directly to Boston’s visitor industry and diversified economic base,” Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh said. “This ... will not only provide more efficient travel for customers, but also opportunities for social, education and economic development.”
“This is something we had hoped for quite some time would happen,” said Glivania de Oliveira, Brazil’s consul general in Boston..