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The merger of two major Latin American airlines has been approved, creating the largest carrier in the region.

Brazil’s anti-trust authorities said they approved the merger of the Brazilian airline TAM with Chile’s LAN, first proposed in 2010.

The new airline, LATAM, is valued at about $14.5bn (£9.4bn) and will represent 6% of global air transport.

Last year, TAM and LAN flew more than 45 million passengers and 754,777 tonnes of cargo.

The combined airline would fly to 115 destinations in 23 countries, with a 40,000-strong workforce.

source: bbc.co.uk

LAN has unveiled plans to acquire Colombian carrier Aires, only hours after it informed analysts of its plans to exercise its option to buy Colombian start-up AerOasis.

The Chile-based airline group in a statement issued late on 27 October says it has forged an agreement to acquire 99% of Aires for about $32.5 million. It says the deal is subject to regulatory approvals and due diligence, which it estimates will take 30 to 60 days.

source: flightglobal.com