New flight route to connect Argentina and Falklands Islands

Cordoba, not Buenos Aires, was chosen because a direct link from the Argentinian capital to RAF Mount Pleasant was deemed politically unacceptable

On course: map of the flight route from Sao Paulo (Great Circle Mapper)

It will be one of the least frequent flights in the world – but a new, monthly Latam service from São Paulo via Cordoba to the Falkland Islands is seen as a great leap forward for Anglo-Argentinian relations.

The jet will operate weekly from Brazil’s largest city to Mount Pleasant airport, 33 miles from Port Stanley on East Falkland. And once a month it will touch down en route at Cordoba in Argentina – the nation’s second city, 400 miles northwest of Buenos Aires

Argentina has a long-standing claim on the islands it calls Las Malvinas, and invaded and occupied the archipelago in 1982.

A start date for the new link from the aviation hub of South America to the disputed islands has not yet been announced.

Latam currently operates a weekly flight from Santiago in Chile via the southern Chilean city of Punta Arenas. It occasionally also calls at Rio Gallegos in Argentina. But a direct flight from a key Argentinian city is seen as a significant gain.

Negotiations for the air link have taken over two years. The UK’s minister for the Americas, Sir Alan Duncan said: “The announcement of a new flight from South America to the Falkland Islands shows real progress, particularly ahead of the G20 in Argentina.

“This news highlights our closer relationship with Argentina and that, despite our differences on some areas, we can work together on issues that benefit all.”

The choice of Cordoba rather than Buenos Aires as the en-route stop is significant.

Flying via the capital would be much shorter, and provide a greater range of connections, including BA's nonstop flight to Heathrow. But it is believed that a direct link from Buenos to RAF Mount Pleasant – the main airport in the Falklands, and also a military base – was felt to be politically unacceptable.

The chosen route via Cordoba is 2,660 miles, over 400 miles further than a journey via Buenos Aires, and 600 miles longer than the direct track from São Paulo to the Falklands.

The overall journey time from the Brazilian airport is expected to be around eight hours, including an hour on the ground in Cordoba. Nonstop flights between Sao Paulo and the Falklands will take around five hours.

The new link could trigger a surge in tourism from the UK to the Falklands.

At present the main approach is on the twice-weekly RAF flight from Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, with a refuelling stop in Cape Verde. The fare is £2,222 return, and citizens of 10 countries, including China, Egypt and Russia, are banned from the service.

Fares from the UK to São Paulo are widely available at under £600 return. Even if the new flight costs the same amount again – despite being much shorter – it would still cut £1,000 from the Brize Norton option.