Brazilian, Chilean airlines unveil merger plans

BUENOS AIRES, August 14 (Itar-Tass) -- Two leading airlines of Brazil
and Chile have announced merger plans after the signing of a special
memorandum on the issue on Friday.
In case of the deal's approval by the shareholders of Brazil's TAM
airlines, headquartered in Sao Paulo and of Chile's LAN, based in
Santiago, there will emerge Latin America's largest air carrier LATAM,
which will make flights to 115 destinations in 23 countries of the world.
Its fleet will have more than 220 aircraft, and staff will exceed 40,000.
Last year, the aggregate profit of Brazil's TAM and Chile's LAN
reached 8.5 billion dollars. The two air carriers transported more than 45
million passengers and 832,000 tonnes of cargos. The joint statement runs
the combined company "will join the list of the leading airlines of the
world in size, profitability and market coverage." After the merger, both
companies will retain their own management structures.
As TAM's CEO Marco Bologna told the media, "the companies after the
merger will be able to offer flights to new destinations neither of them
has ever flown to."
He hopes this will allow them "to better compete with foreign
airlines, which continue to increase the volume of services provided in
our region."

-0-str