By Air in Santiago

By Air

Santiago's Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, often referred to simply as Pudahuel, is about a 30-minute drive west of the city.

Among the U.S. carriers, American serves Santiago from Dallas and Miami, and Delta connects from Atlanta. Lan flies nonstop to Santiago from both Miami and Los Angeles and with a layover in Lima from New York. Air France flies nonstop from Paris, and Iberia has nonstop flights from Madrid.

Most of the major Central and South American airlines also fly to Santiago, including Aerolíneas Argentinas, Aeromexico, Avianca, Copa, Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano, Taca, and Varig.

Lan has daily flights from Santiago to most cities throughout Chile. Aerolíneas del Sur and Sky also fly to most large cities within Chile.

Airport

Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (2/690-1900. www.aeropuertosantiago.cl).

Carriers

Aerolíneas Argentinas (2/210-9300). Aerolíneas del Sur (2/690-1422). Aeromexico (2/690-1038). Air France (2/690-9696). American Airlines (2/601-9272). Avianca (2/270-6613). Copa (2/690-1014). Delta Airlines (2/690-1555). Iberia (2/870-1070). Lan (2/565-2000). Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano (2/690-1140). Sky (600/600-2828). Taca (2/690-1276). Varig (2/690-1348 in Chile).

Airport Transfers

You have several options for getting to and from the airport. The most expensive is taxi service through Taxiofficial, which should cost you around 10,000 pesos for a trip downtown.

Centropuerto, which runs buses every 10 minutes between the airport and Terminal Los Héroes, charges about 1,100 pesos. Tur-Bus has service between the airport and its own terminal near Los Héroes Metro station; it departs every half hour and costs 1,200 pesos. The buses stop en route at the Pajaritos Metro station. Many locals prefer to use this station to get to and from the airport, as there is less traffic than downtown.

Transvip and Tur Transfer operate minibus service between the airport and various locations in the city. The cost is about 3,800 pesos.

Note that there is no Metro service to the airport.

Contacts

Centropuerto (2/695-5958). Taxiofficial (2/690-1381). Transvip (2/677-3000). Tur-Bus (2/270-7500). Tur Transfer (2/677-3000).