Who's up for a trip to Chile?

Because now you can fly there nonstop from Bush Intercontinental:

United Airlines, the U.S. airline with the most global route network, today announced the company will introduce service to Santiago, Chile, from its hub at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, beginning Dec. 7, 2014, subject to government approval.

Flight 847 will depart Houston daily at 9:05 p.m. and arrive in Santiago at 9:40 a.m. the next day. Return flight 846 will depart Santiago daily at 10:45 p.m. and arrive in Houston at 5:40 a.m. the following day. (All times are local.)

“Houston passengers already enjoy a high level of connectivity with Latin America,” says Chief Commercial Officer Ian Wadsworth.  “This new service strengthens those connections, allowing for even greater economic and cultural ties between the two regions.”

Santiago was the only major Latin American economic hub still not served by United from Houston (no offense to La Paz or Asunción), so this seems like a rather obvious addition to their route network. Santiago becomes the latest in a growing list of major international destinations (along with Istanbul, Beijing, Munich, Seoul, etc.) to be accessible from Houston on a non-stop flight.

In addition to the new Santiago service, United will also begin flying from Houston to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic this fall.

Also in December, Emirates will be upgrading its equipment on its Houston-Dubai route, becoming the second airline (after Lufthansa) to fly the Airbus A380 to Bush Intercontinental airport.