Emergency charter saves the day for Chile tour group

Emergency charter saves the day for Chile tour group
By Anne Majumdar


The founder of new luxury tour operator Latitude 33 has personally chartered an aircraft to move 24 passengers stranded on a South American tour due to a sudden strike.

Brett Dudley chartered the Boeing 737 to take the group from Calama to Punta Arenas following a strike by Sky Airlines as the group was about to leave northern Chile.

Dudley was personally escorting the group which had spent five nights at Tierra in the Atacama Desert and was due to fly south to join a cruise on Via Australis and a further five nights post-cruise at Explora Patagonia.

However, on April 7 the group was informed there was no flight availability between Calama and Punta Arenas until April 15, prompting Dudley to charter a flight so the group could continue the tour without further delays.

Without the charter the tour simply would not have been able to go ahead, according to Dudley.

“We are now safely in our lodge in Patagonia, but without the charter we would have been stranded for at least 48 hours, thus missing our cruise connection and throwing the trip into disarray,” he said.

“Our passengers expect high-end skills on our itineraries and I can assure them that this is simply an example of what they can expect if any future unexpected events threaten the progress of our tours”.

Latitude 33 was launched in February this year and specialises in experiential, luxury tours across Africa, South America, Australia, Europe and Asia.

Brett Dudley of Latitude 33 with the 737 chartered aircraft in CalamaBrett Dudley of Latitude 33 with the 737 chartered aircraft in Calama

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