Flying to South America

Airfares can be cheaper when booked from the European capital that has a strong colonial link to your destination, which typically means from Amsterdam, Lisbon, London, Madrid, and Paris. Miami is a popular travel hub from the United States to Latin America because of its strategic location and large Latino minority population. See your destination's article for more specific information on flights.

Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Bogota, Santiago and Lima can be considered to be the main hubs of South America, so many flights to other parts of South America will connect in one of these hubs.

From Europe

Avianca and LATAM have a good selection of European destinations and at least serve a couple of major cities like Lisbon or Madrid. The cheapest flights to South American cities from Europe are often through the country's former colonial power. There are a good number of connections between Spain and Bogota, Buenos Aires, Lima and Santiago. Cities with large immigrant populations such as Madrid, London, Lisbon, and Paris have a good number of flights to South America - especially to their (former) colonies.

Chief European airlines flying to South America are:

Air Caraïbes flies from Paris Orly Airport to Cayenne.
Air Europa flies from Madrid Barajas Airport to Asuncion, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Cordoba, Guayaquil, Lima, Medellin, Montevideo, Quito, Salvador, Santa Cruz de la Sierra–Viru Viru, Sao Paulo.
Air France flies from Paris-Charles de Gaulle to Bogota, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Lima, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago de Chile, Sao Paulo. Air France also flies from Fort-de-France, Paris–Orly, Pointe-à-Pitre, and Port-au-Prince to Cayenne.
British Airways flies from London-Heathrow to Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago de Chile, and Sao Paulo.
Edelweiss Air flies from Zurich to Rio de Janerio.
Iberia flies from Madrid to Bogota, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Guayaquil, Lima, Medellin, Montevideo, Quito, Rio de Janerio, Santiago de Chile, and Sao Paulo.
KLM flies from Amsterdam Schiphol to Bogota, Buenos Aires, Cartagena, Guayaquil, Lima, Rio de Janero, Quito, Santiago de Chile, Sao Paulo. There also flights to Suriname, a former Dutch colony.
LEVEL flies from Barcelona El Prat Airport to Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile.
Lufthansa flies from Frankfurt Airport to Bogota, Buenos Aires, and Sao Paulo.
Swiss International Airlines flies from Zurich Airport to Sao Paulo
TAP Air Portugal flies from Lisbon to Belem, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Caracas, Fortaleza, Maceio, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador da Bahia, Sao Paulo.
Turkish Airlines flies from Istanbul Airport to Bogota (via Panama City), Buenos Aires, Caracas (via Havana), Sao Paulo.

Chief South American airlines flying to South America from Europe are:

Aerolineas Argentinas flies to Buenos Aires from Madrid and Rome-Fiumicino
Avianca flies to Bogota from Barcelona, London-Heathrow, and Madrid. They also fly to Cali and Medellin from Madrid.
Azul Brazilian Airlines flies to Campinas from Lisbon.
Boliviana de Aviación flies to Cochabamba and Santa Cruz de la Sierra–Viru Viru from Madrid.
LATAM Chile, LATAM Perú, LATAM Brazil flies to Lima, Santiago de Chile, São Paulo–Guarulhos from Madrid. They also fly to Santiago de Chile and São Paulo–Guarulhos from Frankfurt. They also fly to São Paulo–Guarulhos from London-Heathrow, Milan-Malpensa, and Paris-Charles de Gaulle.

From North America

There are more flights to South America from North America than from any other continent. In particular Miami International Airport has direct flights to most countries in South America, and Panama's Tocumen International Airport and Mexico's Benito Juarez International Airport are also important hubs.

Aeromexico flies from Benito Juárez airport Mexico City to Bogota, Buenos Aires, Lima, Medellin, Quito, Santiago, Sao Paulo
Air Canada flies from Toronto-Pearson to Bogota, Buenos Aires, Lima, Santiago, Sao Paulo. They also fly from Montreal-Trudeau to Bogota and Sao Paulo.
Air Transat flies from Montreal-Trudeau and Toronto-Pearson to Cartagena.
American Airlines flies from Dallas-Ft. Worth airport to Bogota, Buenos Aires, Lima, Santiago, Sao Paulo. They also fly from Miami to Barranquilla, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Cali, Cartagena, Georgetown, Guayaquil, Lima, Manaus, Medellin, Montevideo, Paramaribo, Pereira, Quito, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Sao Paulo. They also fly from New York-JFK to Bogota, Buenos Aires, Cali, Georgetown, Medellin, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, and Sao Paulo.
Copa Airlines flies from Panama City-Tocumen to Asuncion, Barranquilla, Belo Horizonte, Bogota, Brasilia, Bucaramanga, Buenos Aires, Cali, Caracas, Cartagena, Chiclayo, Cordoba (Argentina), Georgetown, Guayaquil, Lima, Manaus, Maracaibo, Medellin, Mendoza, Montevideo, Paramaribo, Pereira, Porto Alegre, Quito, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Rosario, Salta, Salvador, San Andres, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Santiago, Sao Paulo, Valencia (Venezuela).
Delta Airlines flies from Atlanta airport to Bogota, Buenos Aires, Cartagena, Lima, Quito, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Sao Paulo. They also fly from New York-JFK to Bogota.
Eastern Airlines flies from Boston to Belo Horizonte. They fly from Los Angeles to Guayaquil. They also fly from Miami to Asuncion, Belo Horizonte, Georgetown, Guayaquil, and Quito. They also fly from New York-JFK to Belo Horizonte, Georgetown, Guayaquil, and Quito.
JetBlue flies from Fort Lauderdale to Bogota, Cartagena, Guayaquil, Lima, Medellin. They also fly from New York-JFK to Bogota, Cartagena, Georgetown, and Guayaquil. They also fly from San Juan to Georgetown and Orlando to Bogota.
Spirit Airlines flies from Fort Lauderdale to Armenia (Colombia), Barranquilla, Bogota, Bucaramanga, Cali, Cartagena, Guayaquil, Lima, Medellin. They also fly from Orlando to Bogota, Cartagena, Medellin.
United Airlines flies from Houston-Intercontinental to Bogota, Buenos Aires, Lima, Quito, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago de Chile, and Sao Paulo. They also fly from Newark to Bogota, Lima, Sao Paulo, and also fly from Chicago-O'Hare to Sao Paulo.

South American Airlines

Aerolineas Argentinas flies to Buenos Aires from Cancun, Miami, New York-JFK, Punta Cana.
Avianca flies to Bogota from Aruba, Cancun, Curacao, Fort Lauderdale, Guatemala City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-JFK, Orlando, Panama City, San Jose (Costa Rica), San Juan, San Salvador, Santo Domingo, Washington Dulles. They also fly to Guayaquil, Lima, Medellin, Quito from San Salvador. They also fly to San Andres from Guatemala City and San José de Costa Rica. They fly to La Paz (via Bogota) from Washington Dulles. They fly to Medellin from Miami, New York-JFK, and San Salvador. They to Cali from Miami and New York (via Medellin). They fly to Barranquilla from Miami.
Azul flies to Campinas from Fort Lauderdale.
Boliviana de Aviacion flies to Santa Cruz de la Sierra–Viru Viru from Miami.
GOL flies to Sao-Paulo-Guarulhos from Punta Cana. They also fly to Brasilia from Miami and Orlando. They also fly to Fortaleza from Miami.
LATAM flies to Lima from Cancun, Havana, Los Angeles, Miami, Mexico City, Montego Bay, New York-JFK, Orlando, Punta Cana, San Jose (Costa Rica). They fly to Santiago from Cancun, Los Angeles, Miami, Mexico City, New York-JFK. They fly to Sao Paulo from Boston, Miami, Mexico City, New York-JFK, and Orlando. They also fly from Miami to Belém, Bogota, Fortaleza, Manaus, Recife, Salvador da Bahia, São Paulo–Guarulhos. They also fly to Guayaquil from New York-JFK.
Sky Airline Peru flies to Lima from Cancun.
Viva Air Colombia flies to Cartagena and Medellin from Miami.
Wingo flies to Bogota from Aruba, Cancun, Curacao, Havana, Mexico City, Panama City-Balboa, San Jose (Costa Rica), Santo Domingo. They also fly to Cali, Cartagena, Lima, and Medellín from Panama City-Balboa

From Africa

There are a small handful of flights between Africa and South America.

Connections from Africa to South America are (as of May 2020):

Buenos Aires: Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa
Fortaleza: Cabo Verde Airlines from Sal
Rio de Janeiro: Royal Air Maroc from Casablanca
Recife: Cabo Verde Airlines from Sal
São Paulo: Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa, LATAM from Johannesburg, Royal Air Maroc from Casablanca, TAAG Angolan Airlines from Luanda

From Asia

Middle East

Emirates flies from Dubai to Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires.
Qatar Airways flies from Doha to Sao Paulo.

Elsewhere in Asia

Outside of the Middle East, there are no direct flights from Asia to South America, so be prepared for very long journeys via the Middle East, Europe or North America.

From Oceania

There are a small handful of flights between Oceania and South America.

Connections from South America are (as of May 2020):

LATAM Chile flies from Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney to Santiago.
Qantas flies from Sydney to Santiago.