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For the second consecutive year, by Global Traveler magazine:
Santiago, march 19, 2008.
For the second year in a row, LAN Airlines has won the GT Tested Award for Best Airline in Central/South America, presented by the prestigious American magazine Global Traveler. Readers of the publication, who count among the world’s most sophisticated and demanding travelers, chose the airline in a survey containing questions on 49 categories of business travel conducted between February and August 2007.
LAN also took top honors for Best Business Class to South America at the recent Reader’s Choice Awards ceremony held by Business Traveler magazine.
Global Traveler editor and executive director Francis X. Gallagher noted that more than 15,000 persons responded to the annual survey last year, reflecting the opinions of the most experienced travelers and leaders in business and luxury travel. “The invaluable results of our survey should greatly influence which carriers frequent business travelers choose to fly, where they decide to stay and which products they use,” he added.
The readers of Business Traveler were highly impressed by LAN’s Premium Business Class, praising the new service offered travelers on the company’s fleet of Boeing 767-300s. Eva Leonard, the magazine’s editor, extolled the foreign airlines for their success in the industry: “This year’s Best In Business Travel Awards survey, compiled solely from the responses of our readers, proves yet again foreign carriers are serving travelers’ needs and exceeding expectations”.
Armando Valdivieso, CEO for passenger division at LAN, stressed the significance of the two awards: “It’s a great honor for us to receive such recognition from experienced travelers worldwide. We have a commitment with each one of our customers to ensure we always offer the same level of excellence that sets LAN apart so that every flight with us is an enjoyable experience.”
Premium Business Class
In March 2006, LAN initiated an important process of change for its fleet of long-haul Boeing 767-300s with the implementation of the airline’s new Premium Business Class. It brings together the best of our First Class with the service levels of our Executive Class, including full-flat seats that recline 180 degrees to a totally horizontal position. This amenity, provided only by a select group of airlines, ensures passengers a restful sleep in maximum comfort and privacy. LAN is the lone carrier in the region to offer this product on its business class flights between South and North America.
On the company’s long-haul 767-300s that already have Premium Business Class installed, the range of in-flight entertainment choices is one of the most varied in the industry. LAN’s on-demand audio and video system with its individual seatback screens gives passengers a choice of more than 85 alternatives. These include 32 movies, both first-run and classics, plus 55 channels showing television series and documentaries that in 2008 featured the entire first season of Prison Break and six episodes of Dr. House.
As for music, 450 CDs cover every taste and style from rock to classical. Ten new disks are added every month, and passengers can create their own play list. There are also 14 individual games available, two of which offer multiplayer mode (chess and battleship) so that fellow-passengers can enjoy them together. These innovations will be implemented in all of LAN’s Boeing 767s during the second-half of 2008.
All of the above comes on top of LAN’s excellent personalized service, which the airline is constantly working to improve so that Premium Business will truly rank as one of the best business classes in the world.
The reconfiguration of our Boeing 767-300 fleet also includes improvements to our Economy Class that will make flying a more pleasurable experience. New seats come with larger individual video monitors and high-definition widescreen displays that offer the same entertainment content as in Premium Business. Passengers can make their on-demand audio and video programming choices directly and easily using the touchscreen function or the remote control.
Other features of the new seats are a more recline angle, a cushion that slides forward for greater comfort and an adjustable headrest, plus a cup holder and space to stow personal effects. Redesigned cabin interiors are also part of the upgrade, with new dishware, seat covers and other items such as blankets and pillows.
Sixteen of LAN’s Boeing 767-300 have already been fitted out with the new Premium Business and redesigned Economy classes, mainly on routes between South America, Mexico and the United States.
These initiatives represent an investment of approximately US$ 100 million in service improvements for our customers. This project is revolutionizing the concept of flying and positions LAN at the forefront of the industry, delivering a better product with the highest international standards of quality and excellence.
