Santiago, Chile: Emirate’s latest route was inaugurated on July 5 with its newly refurbished Boeing 777 touching down in Santiago De Chile after flying almost 15 hours to Sao Paulo in Brazil and onwards (three-hours-50-minutes). The new service will see Emirates fly an additional five times a week to Sao Paulo, complementing the airline’s existing daily A380 flight between Dubai and Sao Paulo. In total, Emirates will now fly 12 times a week to Sao Paulo.
The inaugural trip also marks the high investment Emirates is currently making in the continent. Santiago is Emirates’ fourth direct destination in the South American continent, but the airline has been strong in the region with partnerships with major carriers such as LATAM and Gol. Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires are the other three destinations Emirates services directly.
In a press conference here on Santiago, Hubert Frach, Emirates' divisional senior vice-president for commercial operations West, said: “Our inaugural flight was at 80 per cent capacity and this route looks very promising for Emirates. Bookings for July have been at 80 per cent capacity, more on some days in the month. ”
Given that the entire flight time including the one-hour-30-minute stop in Sao Paulo is around 20 hours, Emirates has their work cut out for them in promoting travellers from the UAE and the GCC region to come here.
When asked about how important the stop in Sao Paulo, Brazil was for the route in terms of inter-city traffic as well as traffic from Dubai Scott Lanz, Emirates country manager to Chile told Gulf News, “Right now a lot of bookings are in between Sao Paulo and Santiago because these markets know each other well and there is currently a lot of travel back and forth. However, our job here is to tell Chileans what there is to do in Dubai and throughout the UAE, and therefore encourage travel into Dubai on Emirates.”
In 2017, a MoU between Chile and UAE was signed waiving visa requirements for passport holders of either nation when travelling to the other.
“We expect that as the first groups of Chileans use this route to go to Dubai and come back sharing their stories, there will be high footfall thereon, given that they don’t need a visa to enter the UAE. We also expect UAE residents to travel to Chile – the longest country in the world has one of the most diverse terrains and geography enabling people to travel here throughout the year for various kinds of trips”, he said.
Trade prospects
More than just tourism at this point, the inaugural trip opens up a lot of business avenues for entrepreneurs from both Chile as well as the UAE. According to the UAE ambassador to Chile, Abdul Razzaq Mohammad Hadi, the flight opens up opportunities for the UAE to become a party in trade relations between Chile and other countries including ones in the Far East.
“Given that it is the Year of Zayed, the connection between the two nations is very important. We’re looking forward to a bright future for both travelling and the business sector”, he said. He also added that there are now 75 key trade agreements between Chile and other countries across the world.
“We are party to the triangle trade operation that happens between Chile and Far East nations, and other countries, serving as a third-party hub to connect them and also partaking in trade relations in between. Chile is best placed among other South American nations in terms of trade relations with the rest of the world”, the ambassador said.
UAE business in Chile
“While the companies in countries across the world can now trade easily with Chile through UAE, multi-national entrepreneurs based in the UAE can also now come and work here or invest here in Chile. We are looking at various opportunities to bring UAE businessmen to Chile. Hospitality is one of the major sectors in which Emiratis and others can look to invest here in Chile. Mining is also a key sector that Chile offers to entrepreneurs”, Hadi said.
He added that other than hospitality and mining, infrastructure and technology are two other areas new businessmen to Chile can look at while investing.
Visas for expatriates from UAE
While UAE nationals don’t require a visa to travel, getting a Chilean short-term visa for expatriates is not as easy. After paying manually at a bank, expats are required to go the Chilean consulate in Abu Dhabi to get the visa stamped on the passport. Given that almost 70 per cent of residents including businessmen and potential tourists out of the UAE are expatriates, the visa process could prove a deterrent for some.
“We are trying to work out a solution with the Chilean government to enable online visas for UAE travellers. We also ensure that we provide a link for anyone travelling in to Chile from the UAE”, Hadi told Gulf News.
Business forums and future plans
The ambassador emphasised on how important business relations between the two countries would be in the coming years. “The UAE embassy is in talks to organise a business forum, which will see a lot of entrepreneurs from the UAE coming in to Chile to discuss global business opportunities and scope. We have a lot of factories, investments there, so we’re looking at getting some partners here [in Chile] for sectors such as food security”, he said.
“There is a possibility for businesses to have farms here, low-cost production facilities here. While it’s already happening on a large scale, there is still a lot of scope for growth. Banking and technology in Chile is most advanced in the region and is comparable to what the UAE offers which makes business even more feasible here”, he added.
The planned business forum in Chile is set to happen later next year.
“We are conferring with the Chambers of Commerce in Chile and UAE to organise these business conferences. We are also planning a large food security facility in the UAE in partnership with Chile. A lot of logistics planning is required still, but we’re planning for this to happen in the next three years”, the ambassador told Gulf News.
A business delegation from Chile is expected to travel to the UAE in November while a UAE delegation will travel to Chile in the beginning of the next year.
Chile is a major exporter of salmon, along with strong export business in other perishable items including seafood and fruits, as well as fresh flowers. The Boeing 777 on the new Emirates route offers 14 tonnes of Sky Cargo capacity currently which could open up export/import business opportunities for Chilean and UAE businesses. Given that the route will function five times a week, this brings up the cargo capacity offered to almost 70 tonnes a week.
Flight EK263 from Dubai to Santiago de Chile will depart Dubai on Tuesdays and Thursdays through Sundays at 9.05am arriving in Sao Paulo at 5pm local time, before departing at 6.30pm to arrive in Santiago at 9.40pm on the same day. The return flight EK264 will depart Santiago on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 1.10am, arriving in Sao Paulo at 5.55am. The flight will then depart from Sao Paulo at 7.45am for Dubai where it will arrive at 5.15am UAE time the next day. Tickets will start at Dh8,500 for round-trip flights (economy class) on this route.
