#AR/AV/JJ/LA°/TA* | South America-Based Carriers [Archive] - Page 2

hkskyline

November 2nd, 2006, 02:53 AM

Brazilian flight delays may continue
By ALAN CLENDENNING
1 November 2006

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Flights across Brazil were severely delayed Wednesday as air traffic controllers engaged in a so-called "work-to-rule" campaign, following regulations to the letter in a protest move that significantly slowed airline operations and could last until next week.

The action by controllers came amid complaints that they are understaffed, overworked and underpaid despite robust Brazilian commercial flight growth -- and must now take extra safety precautions following a midair collision in September that was Brazil's most deadly air crash.

Domestic flights at many airports were delayed about two hours on average and in some cases much longer at the start of a long weekend travel crunch brought on by the nation's Memorial Day holiday on Thursday. Some domestic flights were canceled, and some international flights were delayed.

Government officials took emergency measures to ease air traffic bottlenecks, preventing private jets from flying at several major airports during peak hours and creating a new flight corridor over the Atlantic Ocean for jets traveling to and from northeastern and southeastern Brazil.

But Wellington Rodrigues, the president of the union representing air traffic controllers, told Brazil's Globo TV the delays would probably last until at least next week as controllers negotiate with the government over solutions.

Most passengers were taking the delays in stride, some of them sleeping in airport lounges as they waited for flights to depart, while others arrived tired at their destinations.

"At least we made it. Things could be worse," said Maria Aparecida after arriving in Rio de Janeiro from Brasilia with a three-hour delay.

Ten flight controllers who were working when the Sept. 29 midair collision happened are on paid leave from their jobs, undergoing psychiatric treatment.

The crash happened when a Boeing 737-800 of Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA, Brazil's No. 2 airline, collided with a Brazilian-made Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet over the Amazon jungle of Mato Grosso state. All 154 people aboard the Boeing were killed, while the Legacy landed safely at a nearby air force base.

Investigators want to question the flight controllers, who were assigned to airports in Manaus, in the western Amazon jungle, and Brasilia, but the interrogations have been delayed because of their psychiatric treatment.

The flight data recorders of both planes were analyzed in Canada but the cause of the collision has not yet been announced.

hkskyline

November 9th, 2006, 04:35 PM

Brazil Official Defends Air Controllers
By MICHAEL ASTOR
8 November 2006

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - Brazil's defense minister on Wednesday defended air traffic controllers involved in the country's deadliest air disaster, dismissing claims that controllers allegedly ordered an executive jet to fly at the wrong altitude.

Waldir Pires told a news conference it was irresponsible to assign blame until the completion of an investigation into the cause of the Sept. 29 collision between a Gol airlines flight and the Legacy executive jet, which killed 154 people.

Last week, the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo published an unsourced report saying the control tower in Sao Jose dos Campos, where the Legacy took off, cleared it to fly at 37,000 feet -- an altitude normally reserved for traffic headed the opposite direction -- all the way to the Amazon jungle city of Manaus.

The Legacy collided with the Gol's Boeing 737, which crashed to the jungle floor killing everyone aboard. The smaller jet landed safely with no injuries to the passengers or crew.

On Tuesday, the Legacy's owner, ExcelAire Service Inc., also appeared to blame the accident on Brazilian controllers.

"In the face of recent confirmations that air traffic control cleared and directed the ExcelAire Legacy Jet to fly to Manaus at 37,000 feet, repeated suggestions that ExcelAire's pilots were flying at the wrong altitude are baseless," Robert Torricella, a lawyer representing ExcelAire said in the statement.

But Pires said Wednesday the controllers were not to blame.

"The (control) tower normally thinks of when an airplane is taking off and what is its final destination, but it isn't what determines the altitudes and course of things," Pires said.

"That is the flight plan," he added. "And in the flight plan, it was written that the (Legacy) should travel at 37,000 feet from Sao Jose dos Campos to Brasilia and in Brasilia should drop to 36,000 feet."

Lawyers for the victims' families have filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court claiming negligence by ExcelAire and Honeywell International Inc., the manufacturer of the executive jet's transponder.

Brazilian officials have seized the passports of the two American pilots of the executive jet, both of whom are from New York. They remain in a Rio de Janeiro hotel while the probe continues.

schmidt

November 11th, 2006, 07:37 PM

Actually Varig was the national carrier until the beginning of 2005, but then they almost bankrupt. Now TAM kind of took its place, but TAM doesn't have such a good image as Varig had. GOL is pretty good, but they had that accident back in September which was a stain in their image as well.

So our aviation market is pretty RANDOM nowadays haha. And TAP is entering more and more into our market as well.

Iggui

November 16th, 2006, 08:17 AM

hkskyline, this thread is literally nothing but you posting article, after article, after article.

so?

it's not his fault if people don't post any comments here. judging from the over 7500 views the thread has, people (like me and others) are obviously entering the thread to read the news, even if comments aren't left behind to record our visit.

hkskyline, the people are behind you! (;))

hkskyline

December 2nd, 2006, 03:48 PM

I don't expect people to reply every single article posted. If people want to discuss the information posted in here, then they are more than happy to do so. The key to a healthy discussion is information. Thanks for your support. :)

hkskyline

December 7th, 2006, 03:16 AM

Air Traffic Sys Failure Forces Brazil To Ground Flights

SAO PAULO, Dec 05, 2006 (DJCS via Comtex) -- Virtually all takeoffs from three major airports in Brazil were canceled Tuesday night after an air traffic communications system broke down, making it difficult for controllers to communicate with pilots and creating air travel chaos.

Brazil's Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement that takeoffs were banned at the airport in the capital of Brasilia and in the large central city of Belo Horizonte. Many takeoffs were also canceled at the airport in Sao Paulo that handles domestic flights, though the authority allowed flights to continue on the busy Sao Paulo-Rio de Janeiro shuttle route.

Authorities were still allowing planes to land at the three airports and almost all international flights departing Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, take off from a separate airport unaffected by the government order. But the Belo Horizonte and Brasilia airports also serve some international destinations, and all takeoffs were prohibited from those airports.

The problem emerged when a communications system in Brasilia inexplicably broke down, reducing the number of radio frequencies and making it hard for controllers to reach pilots flying commercial jets in some of Brazil's busiest air traffic corridors, the government's Agencia Brasil news agency reported.

The breakdown initially caused huge delays Tuesday morning, prompting passengers to sleep on airport floors. Authorities decided later to cancel the takeoffs at the three airports until the communications system is repaired.

The aviation authority said the system could be repaired by Wednesday, but warned travelers to check on flights with airlines and acknowledged that the incident was Brazil's most disruptive air traffic communications failure in history.

"There has never been a collapse like this," Milton Zuanazzi, who heads the aviation authority, told Folha de S. Paulo.

It also came as most air travelers in Latin America's largest nation have had to put up with more than a month of serious flight delays sparked by a job protest by controllers.

Following Brazil's worst-ever air crash disaster, the controllers began following regulations to the letter in a protest that significantly slowed operations and is having a financial impact on Brazilian airlines.

Under the "work to rule" campaign, they have refused to handle more than the limit of flights recommended under international standards and are strictly observing times between landings and takeoffs. The protest came amid complaints that Brazilian controllers are overworked, underpaid and understaffed despite strong commercial flight growth in recent years.

The commander of Brazil's air traffic control system was subsequently dismissed late last month, though Defense Minister Waldir Pires insisted that the move was a routine transfer. But it came just days after shares in Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (GOL) and Brazil's Tam Linhas Aereas SA (TAM) airline fell because of continued flight delays that government officials had said they would solve.

Authorities are still investigating whether actions by controllers played a role in the Sept. 29 mid-air crash above the Amazon jungle that killed 154 people in a collision between a Gol airlines Boeing 737 and an Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet.

All of the passengers on the Gol flight died, but the pilots of the executive jet managed to bring their plane down with no injuries to the seven on board.

Brazilian authorities prevented the two American executive jet pilots from leaving the country as investigators probed the crash, but a court ruled Tuesday that they can pick up their passports and leave Brazil within 72 hours. They have been holed up in a hotel fronting Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach for more than two months.

Dreamlıneя

December 7th, 2006, 10:29 PM

Conviasa and TAP make deal

Venezuela's Conviasa and Portuguese TAP initialed an agreement, said Franklin Fernández the chair of the Venezuelan airline.

"These trade partnerships are intended to proceed with expansion plans, in order to provide our users with first-quality services, in addition to consolidate the Venezuelan carrier both in the domestic and foreign markets," Fernández told official news agency ABN.

The CEO mentioned that Conviasa has executed additional agreements nationwide with domestic airlines Aserca and Santa Bárbara.

In the international context, Conviasa has reached cooperation agreements with airlines from Chile, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and Iran, among others.

hkskyline

December 8th, 2006, 09:13 AM

Brazil's Gol cuts 2006 profit forecast, ups 2007

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Brazil's budget airline Gol on Thursday revised its per-share profit forecast lower for this year due to problems with air traffic control, but it raised its projection for next year.

Gol cut its per-share profit estimate to between 3.4 reais ($1.60) and 3.65 reais in 2006 due to a drop in passenger traffic, compared with a previous forecast of between 3.75 reais and 4 reais issued last month.

Later the same day Gol Linhas Aereas raised its forecast range for next year to 5.20 reais to 5.65 reais from the 5.10 to 5.60 reais it announced in July.

Gol shares fell over 3.5 percent after the first announcement but recovered some ground toward the end of the day to trade 1.2 percent lower at 61.85 reais.

Citing problems in Brazil's air traffic control and lower load factor, Gol said it should end this year with net revenue of around 3.9 billion reais, down from its previous forecast of 4 billion reais.

But Gol said it expects that the problems will be resolved soon and put its net revenues next year at 5.6 billion reais, up from a previously expected 5.4 billion reais.

The expected operating margin for 2006 was revised down to 21 percent from 23 percent and next year's margin to 23 percent from between 26 and 28 percent, Gol said.

The previous expectation of a load factor of 74 percent in 2006 was revised down to 73 percent.

Air traffic in Brazil has been chaotic since Gol's Boeing 737 crashed on Sept. 29, exposing major problems in the country's aviation system and forcing the temporary shutdown of three airports amid its worst-ever aviation crisis this week.

Since the crash, which killed 154 people and was the deadliest in Brazilian history, air traffic controllers have organized work slowdowns to protest poor pay and long hours, bringing air travel to a near halt several times in the last two months.

FM 2258

December 8th, 2006, 09:57 AM

so?

it's not his fault if people don't post any comments here. judging from the over 7500 views the thread has, people (like me and others) are obviously entering the thread to read the news, even if comments aren't left behind to record our visit.

hkskyline, the people are behind you! (;))

I agree, I love the articles. :)

hkskyline

December 8th, 2006, 10:08 AM

Thanks for your support. Are there particular areas / countries / airlines you would like to see more? I can keep an eye on them during my daily browsing.

Sadly, since I don't see South American airlines that often, pictures will be very limited from my end.

hkskyline

December 11th, 2006, 05:40 AM

Brazil's New Leader
Just 10 years after it gained authority to fly on trunk routes, TAM has emerged as the country's largest airline.

By Edvaldo Pereira Lima
Brazil's New Leader
Air Transport World, December 2006, p.32

TEN YEARS AGO THIS MONTH, TAM was awarded the right to fly trunk routes in Brazil. It was a major step for the airline, which had begun life as a regional carrier in 1976 during the era of fare and route regulation. Henceforth TAM could serve the top markets nationwide, competing head-to-head with the country's leading carriers: Varig, Vasp and Transbrasil. Owing to the drive and commitment of its visionary founder, the late Capt. Rolim Adolfo Amaro, TAM already enjoyed a reputation as a service innovator, with a commitment to providing top-quality passenger service embedded within its corporate culture.

No one knew what the future held, but even the most optimistic could not have foreseen the dramatic changes that have occurred in Brazil's airline industry over the past decade and particularly since 9/11. Of TAM's top competitors in 1996, Vasp and Transbrasil are out of business while Varig, which for three decades had been the undisputed domestic market leader and de facto flag carrier of Brazil, is struggling to survive. TAM, meanwhile, overcame the death in a helicopter crash of Captain Rolim in 2001 to become Brazil's leading airline in both the domestic and international arenas, operating more than 600 daily departures to 46 domestic destinations and 11 outside Brazil. It had a 51.2% market share among local carriers in the first quarter and a 52.6% share in the second quarter.

Now the one to watch is fast flier Gol, the first true low-cost carrier in Brazil and South America (ATW, 2/06, p. 44), which from a modest beginning in 2001 has jumped to the No. 2 position with a 36% domestic market share in July. Data from OAG show that Gol is closing rapidly. In a representative week in October it offered 523,157 seats and 3,484 frequencies against 624,826 seats and 4,536 frequencies for TAM (see chart, p. 36). Additionally, Gol is expanding rapidly into neighboring countries in South America following the traditional model of operating a single fleet type with everyday low fares and no-frills service.

Soaring Earnings

In this new scenario, TAM has many reasons to consider 2006 special. Earnings for the January-June semester soared sevenfold to R$208.3 million ($94.3 million) from R$28.8 million in the year-ago period. Gross revenues grew 32% to R$3.49 billion and operating income climbed sixfold to R$306.7 million. Passenger boardings increased 33.4% to 11.6 million and RPKs surged 35.3% to 11.9 billion. Traffic results for August 2006 were even more exciting: Domestic market share reached 51.3% against 41.7% last year and international market share skyrocketed to 54.5% compared to 20.5% one year before.

To be sure, much of TAM's rapid growth is attributable to the corresponding shrinkage at Varig, which narrowly avoided the fate of Transbrasil and Vasp last summer. The eleventh-hour rescue in July left it under new ownership with only a shadow of its former workforce, fleet and route network. In August, its share of the domestic market fell to just 2.2%, a far cry from the 25.2% enjoyed in 2005, while international market share dropped to 21.6% from 76%. Varig is not the full answer, however. Despite the loss of its capacity, Brazilian domestic passenger air traffic increased 7.8% in August over August 2005. The outlook seems favorable, with several factors contributing to the success TAM has pursued with zeal. CEO Marco Antonio Bologna has a geopolitical explanation: "Brazil is the largest country in Latin America and thus the main air market in this part of the world. If you look around globally and check high population levels, where do you find real opportunities for growth in the air transport industry? China, India, Russia and Brazil. We have 187 million population but only 10 million people fly despite the double-digit growth of the market over the last three years. The market is going to grow [even more] through the efficiency of airlines that will design competitive fares applied to different segments." This is what TAM has been doing, says Bologna, appealing to business travelers--who currently represent an estimated 80% of demand--and leisure passengers alike.

The airline already has achieved the first leg of its twin strategy by becoming Brazil's leading domestic carrier. On the international front it intends "to achieve a selective and profitable growth where there is air traffic of Brazilians in an enhanced, balanced mix of business and leisure travels."

How to maintain its leadership domestically while growing in the international arena? Bologna is straightforward: By providing high-quality customer service and continuing to do so, value-added service--which comprises the route network, ontime performance, direct flights, convenient schedules, high frequency and competitive fares; by innovating in services and products, and by improving liquidity and solvency and thus gaining bargaining power when negotiating business deals.

These factors are linked to the brand name of TAM, ranked first in the industry and one of the 15 most valuable franchises in Brazil. A twin of this is the airline's frequent-flier program Fidelidade. TAM was the first Brazilian carrier to offer a loyalty program when it launched it back in 1993. Today it has 3 million members and has awarded 3.3 million free tickets.

Another element is cost management. Bologna may surprise the reader by saying he considers TAM a low-cost carrier. "The concept of LCC here is not comparable to Europe or the US," he elaborates. "We have a single labor cost pattern and a single airport cost pattern and there is not so much Internet sales penetration. Regarding costs, airlines differentiate themselves in their commercial cost structure, hourly use of the fleet and management cost."

Finance and operational cost, however, are areas in which some analysts think TAM should do a better job. In the 2006 second quarter, for example, it reported net income of R$97.1 million, reversing a loss of R$24.7 million the prior year. Not a bad performance, but Gol earned R$106.7 million. TAM's CASK dropped from R19.12 to R18.69 cents, mainly owing to improvements in aircraft utilization from 10.66 to 12.04 hr. Good, but Gol did better: CASK of R15.32 cents and a 13.9-block-hr. utilization.

Bologna agrees that TAM "has still a lot to do in reducing costs," a mission outlined and started five years ago. One of the elements yet to be improved is trimming commercial cost through increased use of direct selling channels. Only 17% of the airline's total sales are direct and the goal is to reach 25% in 2007. Simultaneously, there is a classic tug-of-war with credit card companies in Brazil involving all airlines. Bologna says the service fee is usually 1.5% abroad but more than 2% in Brazil. "Credit cards are the best payment media for the industry, but we understand there is an exaggerated pre-pricing in the Brazilian market."

Another area being tackled for improvement is overhead cost. Being a 30-year-old company, TAM has room to modernize management procedures and enhance IT processes. One of the measures taken last year was outsourcing of its data center, system development, telecommunications, distributed computing and help desk at an estimated savings of 25%.

In the technical field, a recent move that helped to cut costs was the certification by Brazil's ANAC and Europe's EASA of TAM's maintenance facility at Sao Carlos, 255 km. north of Sao Paulo. The 4.6-million-sq.-m. engineering center is now able to provide C and D checks for the current fleet of 10 A330s, 44 A320s, 13 A319s and 22 F100s. The Fokkers are to be phased out completely by the first half of 2008. TAM has firm orders for 10 A350-900s with five options with deliveries starting in 2012, although the timetable may slide. TAM also has an MOU for 15 A319s, 16 A320s and six A330s for deliveries until 2010, plus a firm order for 20 A320s and 20 options. Finally, at presstime, it ordered four 777-200ERs for delivery in mid-2008.

Capital Expansion

To broaden its capital base in light of these extensive commitments and future expansion plans, TAM in March followed LAN, Gol and Copa onto the New York Stock Exchange via an IPO. This move, together with a similar public offering on the Bovespa in Brazil, raised R$1.5 billion. In July 2005 it raised R$548 million in an initial Bovespa offering. More recently, it entered the Ibovespa and Indice Brasil 50 and Morgan Stanley Capital International indexes. Last September it completed its first-ever issuance of debentures in Brazil, which raised an additional R$500 million.

The 2005 Bovespa and the 2006 NYSE and Bovespa launches are part of a strategic long-term move. "We did it in two movements, to capitalize the company firstly and secondly to give the company a longer time of exposure to the market before the larger launch," explains CFO and Investor Relations Director Libano Miranda Barroso. "When you enter the capital market and do an IPO you pay an entering price. The investor does not know you and has other investment options. So we first listed the company in Brazil, $230 million, which is not big enough for two stock exchanges. This concentrated liquidity, created history and exposed major shareholders to a policy of relations with investors with a high pattern of disclosure. After the skeptical initial period, the company gained value as time went by."

The NYSE listing made TAM establish a high level of corporate governance and it began to be scrutinized by analysts who follow not just emerging markets but also the global market. The increase in coverage improved liquidity. "Our liquidity, which was 0.7% of a 21% free float, turned into 1% of a 45% free float," says Barroso. "Our papers were originally negotiated at R$18 each at Bovespa but today are around R$70. In New York they began at $19.40 and now each is quoted at $32.50."

Optimism is in the air, and it is not just because TAM was ready to move forward as Varig dramatically reduced operations. The establishment of ANAC as the civilian air transport body earlier this year, replacing the military-managed DAC, is seen as a very positive move. The new air transport policy that came with it brings the industry three powerful foundations, elaborates Bologna. "One is price freedom. You don't have your fares frozen by the air transport authority anymore, as used to happen. Or you don't have to fear that your promotional fare will not be permitted. The second point is freedom to fly. You can fly anywhere you choose provided you have the airplanes to do the job. And third is the slot concession criterion. If you deliver reliability and punctuality above 85%, the slot is yours. And to apply for a slot you have to provide a certificate that you don't owe tributes and taxes. This is a historic advancement in this country."

Efficient carriers now can feel confident to explore the huge potential for growth in Brazil, a country larger than the continental US where roads are in bad shape and the rail system is limited and not designed for passenger traffic. The industry grew 19.5% last year despite a modest growth of only 2.5% in the nation's GDP.

New domestic destinations are being added to TAM's route network. Internationally, rights into Milan were granted recently and new frequencies have been implemented into Miami and New York. London was to become a new destination Oct. 28. In South America, in addition to the current seven destinations beyond Brazil and one codeshare service with TACA into Lima, Caracas is on the horizon.

New business opportunities are being sought in cargo--taking advantage of belly space--charters in partnership with Brazilian tour operator CVC, the tour package segment through subsidiary TAM Viagens, new partnerships for the Fidelidade program and MRO, as the new maintenance operation is also to provide third-party services for Boeing aircraft.

The journey is on, navigation is set and the course is charted. It is destiny to say now how TAM will design its own future.

hkskyline

December 11th, 2006, 08:03 AM

US pilots charged in mid-air collision that killed 154 people

SAO PAULO, Dec 8, 2006 (AFP) - Police on Friday charged two US pilots involved in Brazil's deadliest air disaster in September, with "endangering an aircraft."

Despite the charges and the ongoing investigation of the September 29 mid-air collision over the Amazon jungle with a Brazilian airliner, killing 154 people, pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino will be free to return to the United States immediately, said their lawyer Theo Dias.

After a seven-hour hearing before court officials in Mato Grosso state, the two defendants headed to the Guarulhos international airport presumably for a flight home.

The charge of endangering an aircraft is legally classed as "involuntary," and carries a penalty, if convicted, of two-to-five years in prison, Dias said.

The collision between the Gol Airline Boeing 737 and the executive jet with seven passengers on board piloted by the two defendants took place over the Amazon jungle in the western state of Mato Grosso. It was Brazil's worst air disaster.

Since the accident, the two US pilots had been detained at a hotel in Rio de Janeiro and had surrendered their passports to police.

Before leaving the hearing in Mato Grosso, they got their passports back and they signed a commitment to return to Brazil for any court appearance or investigation need that might arise on the case, the lawyer said.

They were allowed to return home under terms of a US-Brazilian cooperation agreement on legal matters.

The accident, according to two air traffic controllers involved in the tragedy who were recently interviewed by Epoca magazine, occurred over a "blind zone," where control towers have no contact with airplanes.

The controllers said the area covers a wide swath of central Brazil including the northern part of the western state of Mato Grosso, the central state of Tocantins and Bahia in the northeast.

The controllers said other blind zones exist, including in northern Brazil.

Brazilian aviation authorities late last month denied the existence of "blind zones," also called "black holes," in the altitudes used by commercial flights, starting at 30,000 feet (9,145 meters).

The collision took place at 37,000 feet (11,278 meters) on September 29 in northern Mato Grosso.

The air traffic controllers, who are from the military, spoke on condition of anonymity. One was charged with tracking the Legacy executive jet's flight across the Brasilia area, while the other was in an air operations room.

hkskyline

December 12th, 2006, 04:32 AM

Brazilian flights delayed again after power shutdown at air traffic control center
By ALAN CLENDENNING
11 December 2006

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Commercial flights in Brazil were delayed on Monday after a power shutdown at an air traffic control installation, the latest disruption in more than a month of frustrations for travelers and financial woes for airlines.

Electricity was cut off to the air traffic control center in the city of Curitiba, 400 kilometers (250 miles) southwest of Sao Paulo, during work to modernize the system, Brazil's Civil Aviation Authority said.

Power was restored an hour later, but the shutdown piled fresh flight delays on top of an already stressed air traffic control system. Brazil's military, which runs the air traffic control system, denied the electricity shutdown was the result of an equipment failure, the Agencia Estado news wire reported.

But the event was not announced to the public before it took place and came less than a week after authorities suspended all takeoffs from three major airports for hours, prompting a wave of unprecedented flight cancellations, after the control system in the capital of Brasilia failed.

It then took airlines days to get stranded passengers to their destinations, and the Brasilia air traffic system stopped working again briefly on Saturday, ushering in a new round of delayed flights.

The military and officials are still trying to pinpoint what caused last week's failure in Brasilia.

The latter incident reduced the number of radio frequencies air traffic controllers use to communicate with pilots traveling in some of the busiest flight corridors of Latin America's largest country.

Severe flight delays began in late October, when air traffic controllers seeking better pay and working conditions began following regulations to the letter, significantly slowing operations.

Congress has created committees to evaluate the crisis, and some lawmakers called for the resignation of Defense Minister Waldir Pires. Brazil's air force is in charge of air traffic controllers.

The commander of Brazil's air traffic control system was dismissed late last month, though Pires insisted it was a routine transfer.

More than 20 percent of Brazilian flights already were delayed by more than an hour Monday morning after the power shutdown in Curitiba, Agencia Estado said.

The delays were most severe in Sao Paulo, the central city of Belo Horizonte and Brasilia.

Authorities are still investigating whether actions by controllers played a role in the Sept. 29 crash above the Amazon jungle between a Gol airlines Boeing 737 and an Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet. All 154 people aboard the Gol flight were killed in what was Brazil's worst air disaster.

hkskyline

December 12th, 2006, 04:33 AM

Chile's LAN Airlines traffic up 25 pct in November

SANTIAGO, Chile, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Chile's dominant carrier LAN Airlines said on Monday its passenger traffic increased 25 percent in November, compared with the same month last year.

The company said capacity on its passenger flights rose 20.2 percent in the period, while its load factor -- which measures how full the planes are -- increased by three percentage points to 76.9 percent.

The company said international passenger traffic accounted for 86 percent of total passenger traffic and rose 28 percent in November as capacity rose 21.5 percent.

hkskyline

December 13th, 2006, 03:44 AM

Brazilian charter flights grounded during peak travel hours to ease flight delays
By ALAN CLENDENNING
12 December 2006

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Chartered flights in Brazil have been grounded during peak air travel hours to help ease severe flight delays plaguing the nation's airports for more than a month, Brazilian media reported.

The flights, used mostly on package tours in Latin America's largest country, won't be allowed to operate 7-9 a.m. and 5-8 p.m. Monday-Friday, the Agencia Estado news service said.

Flights also will be grounded during the busy Sunday evening travel period, said Agencia Estado, quoting Milton Zuanazzi, who heads Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency. Brazil has had severe flight delays since October, when air traffic controllers started a work protest that significantly slowed airline operations.

The agency took the step on chartered flights as Brazil approaches its high tourism season, from late December through April, for Brazilian travelers and foreigners visiting the country.

Zuanazzi didn't say how long the measure would last, but told reporters in Rio de Janeiro that the delays may not be completely resolved until February or March.

Lengthy delays began in late October, when air traffic controllers seeking better pay and working conditions began following regulations to the letter.

Authorities are still investigating whether actions by controllers played a role in the Sept. 29 crash above the Amazon jungle between a Gol airlines Boeing 737 and an Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet. All 154 people aboard the Gol flight were killed in what was Brazil's worst air disaster.

The delays worsened last week when authorities suspended all takeoffs from three major airports for hours, prompting a wave of unprecedented flight cancellations, after the control system in the capital of Brasilia failed. It took airlines days to get stranded passengers to their destinations.

And 30 percent of the nearly 2,000 commercial flights in Brazil on Monday were delayed by more than an hour, and about 20 percent of the flights scheduled to leave Tuesday by 10:30 a.m. were held up more than an hour, the aviation agency said.

Fuzumen

December 14th, 2006, 12:57 AM

Avianca nears major fleet buy, plans service to Africa
Friday December 1, 2006

Avianca Chairman German Efromovich said the company is in the final stages of negotiating a "big" fleet purchase expected to be completed before the end of January. Speaking at ALTA's third annual Latin American Airlines Leaders Forum in Cancun, Efromovich, who also is CEO of Brazil's Synergy Group, said the value of the order excluding options is in the area of $2.5 billion and comprises single- and twin-aisle aircraft. They will be divided between Avianca and OceanAir of Brazil, which both are under the Synergy Aerospace umbrella.

He said he was talking to Airbus and Boeing. Although he declined to identify specific widebody types, he did say the 777 was too large for the airlines' requirements and joked that the A380 likewise was too big. "I can work with the 787," he added in response to a reporter's question. The goal is to replace the entire fleet of the carriers by 2014 with the exception of the F100s that are spread among the airlines. Another Synergy airline, VIP of Ecuador, flies four Do-328s.

Efromovich also said OceanAir has acquired two 767-300ERs, one leased and one purchased, that will allow it to launch service to Africa in the 2007 first quarter. Aircraft will operate over a Sao Paulo-Lagos-Luanda-Sao Paulo routing. Although service will be started under the OceanAir brand, his intent is to brand all of the group's airlines under the Avianca name, although not all names will disappear because some are involved in nonairline aviation activities. OceanAir also has the authority to fly to Johannesburg and likely will begin the route after it acquires a third 767, he said.

by Perry Flint
Source: ATW

Sauvalle

December 14th, 2006, 02:05 AM

hkskyline

December 23rd, 2006, 08:16 AM

Brazilian president calls in air force to help stranded holiday travelers
22 December 2006

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called in the Brazilian air force to help transport airline passengers on an emergency basis as long delays and overbooked planes snarled commercial flights over the busy holiday weekend.

Brazil halted ticket sales by the nation's biggest airline, Tam Linhas Aereas SA, until the situation was brought under control, aviation officials said Friday.

The Air Force Command, whose flights began after the president's announcement, said in a statement it was fulfilling a request by Silva to "relieve the difficulties currently faced by users of commercial civil aviation" across Latin America's largest country.

The air force made eight jets -- two Boeing 707s, two Boeing 737s and four Embraer EMB-145s -- available for flights between Brasilia, the nation's capital, and Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the country's two largest cities.

The Air Force's expenses will be paid for by the airlines, which have been dogged by mechanical problems, bad weather and a protest by air traffic controllers, resulting in traveling nightmares for passengers.

Bad weather and mechanical problems with six Tam airplanes caused delays of up to 12 hours at Brazilian airports Thursday.

The National Agency of Civil Aviation, or ANAC, said it halted Tam ticket sales Friday because "predicted improvements in the treatment of passengers did not occur, with the persistence of delays."

"All airlines have delays, but Tam is the most affected," said Nadia Tavares, a spokeswoman for Brazil's airport authority, Infraero.

Calls to TAM officials went to a recorded message that told callers to try back later.

More than 1,000 stranded travelers were waiting for delayed flights Friday in Brasilia, including some 600 Tam passengers, Infraero said. Some 30 passengers invaded the tarmac, chanting "we want a plane," but were peacefully removed by police.

Of the 40 flights scheduled to take off from Brasilia on Friday morning, 18 were delayed, ANAC said. At airports in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, numerous flights were delayed and long lines of passengers stretched across the lobby.

Silva called for the airlines and regulatory agencies to account for the delays.

Brazil's airport woes began after a midair collision between a Gol airlines Boeing 737 and an Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet in late September. The Gol flight crashed in the Amazon jungle, killing 154 people in Brazil's worst air disaster. Authorities are investigating whether controller error had a role in the collision.

Soon after, air traffic controllers began following regulations to the letter in a "work-to-rule" protest to demand better pay and working conditions.

The delays worsened on Dec. 5 when air control systems at Brasilia's airport failed, and authorities suspended takeoffs from three major airports for hours, prompting an unprecedented wave of flight cancellations.

schmidt

December 23rd, 2006, 12:24 PM

This is freaking! It's completely out of control!!! :ohno:

I'm still wondering if I'll make it in time for my flight to Lisbon next month as I have only a 4 and half hour connection in Sao Paulo! :(

I'm seriously thinking of cancelling the ticket from here to SP and taking a bus. It's too damn out of control!

hkskyline

January 28th, 2007, 07:46 AM

Ecuador dampens rumors over defense minister's death in air crash

QUITO, Jan 26, 2007 (AFP) - Ecuador's government Friday sought to stamp out speculation over a two-helicopter crash which killed the country's first female defense minister, Guadalupe Larriva, nine days after she was sworn into office.

"Don't speculate, things are very delicate for the country at the moment," said Monica Chuji, spokeswoman for President Rafael Correa.

"We are experiencing a series of problems and speculation can be harmful. It doesn't do anything good for the country," she said.

Larriva, a leader of the Socialist Party, her 17-year-old daughter and five military officers were killed late Wednesday when two military helicopters apparently collided in mid-air during exercises near the Portoviejo air base on the Pacific coast near Manta, 275 kilometers (170 miles) southwest of Quito.

On Friday Correa, who the day before promised an international investigation into the crash, said he would try to appoint another woman to lead the defense ministry, although he did not offer any names.

freddiewa

January 30th, 2007, 01:02 AM

Gol Airlines (Brazil) will start flights to Lima (Peru) from different cities in Brazil, also frfom Buenos Aires and Santiago.

Also KLM will start on March direct flights from Amsterdam, and will be the first airline to use a B-777 to Lima

hkskyline

February 1st, 2007, 07:48 PM

Brazil's Varig airline gets US$17.1 million loan from Chile's Lan
1 February 2007

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Chilean airline Lan SA has loaned Brazil's airline Varig US$17.1 million (€13.2 million) in a deal that could make the Chilean company a minority shareholder in the recovering carrier, a Varig spokeswoman confirmed Thursday.

Lan's loan comes in exchange for an exclusive option for shares, Lan said Wednesday.

"While the amount of the investment doesn't have a significant effect for the company ... Lan could become a minority shareholder in the new (Varig) should the conversion option be exercised," Lan said in a securities filing.

The loan took place in September, it added.

Chilean shareholding law defines a minority stake as less than 10 percent.

Varig spokeswoman Daniela Pontes said Thursday it was not immediately clear how the company would use the loan, but analysts said it could be used to improve cash flow and help Varig offer more flights.

Varig was Brazil's leading airline for many years but its operations disintegrated in 2005 and early 2006 amid enormous debts.

In July, VarigLog, owned by a group of investors that included U.S. investment fund Matlin Patterson, bought the company's operating assets for US$24 million (€18.4 million) and sharply cut back the number of flights offered.

Varig's new owners are hoping to quadruple the airline's share of the domestic market to 20 percent by the end of 2007.

The Chilean carrier has long sought to establish a subsidiary in South America's biggest country, and has a tradition of entering foreign markets via defunct local airlines.

It has set up local units in Argentina, Ecuador and Peru as a minority shareholder, but retains operational control and branding.

hkskyline

February 2nd, 2007, 06:37 AM

Brazil's Gol profit tumbles on flight delays

SAO PAULO, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Brazilian low-cost airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes said on Tuesday fourth-quarter profit fell by nearly half due to flight cancellations and delays that reduced its load factor.

Net income, calculated under U.S. accounting rules, fell to 92.7 million reais ($43.4 million) from 170.6 million reais a year earlier and 190 million reais in the 2006 third quarter.

For the whole of 2006, Gol reported a net profit of 569.1 reais, up from 513.2 million reais in 2005.

Brazilian airlines were hit twice during the peak year-end holiday travel season. Air traffic controllers staged work slow-downs in November, and nearly 40 percent of flights were delayed early in December because of faulty air control equipment in Brasilia.

Gol estimated that it lost 150 million reais in revenue in the fourth quarter and saw its costs rise by 41 million reais because of higher fuel consumption and expenses related to the canceled flights.

The company said ticket sales slumped 30 percent in December from November, and the number of no-show passengers rose because of "negative publicity" related to the flight delays.

Load factor and yields in the fourth quarter were hurt by "the bottlenecks in air traffic in the country's main airports," Gol said in its earnings statement.

The airline's load factor fell to 67.9 percent from 74.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2005, though its market share of Brazil's domestic air travel rose to 37 percent from 30 percent, Gol said.

Its main rival, TAM Linhas Aereas , finished the quarter with a 49 percent share of the domestic market.

Brazil's air traffic has faced repeated troubles since Sept. 29, when a Boeing 737 flown by Gol clipped wings with a business jet over the Amazon, causing the 737 to spin out of control and crash into the jungle, killing all 154 people on board. ($1 = 2.136 reais)

hkskyline

February 8th, 2007, 11:37 AM

Brazil judge lifts ban on large jets at Sao Paulo airport
By TALES AZZONI
7 February 2007

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - An appeals court on Wednesday overturned a ban on large passenger jets at Brazil's busiest airport that had been set by a judge citing safety concerns.

The federal court ruled the ban on three types of planes was too harsh because it would have severe economic ramifications, and that there were not enough safety concerns to prevent the planes from landing and taking off at Congonhas airport.

The court sided with Brazilian Civil Aviation Authority, or ANAC, which said that measures are being taken to improve a runway that has proven too short for some jets when it rains heavily.

On Tuesday, a federal judge issued an injunction banning Fokker 100s, Boeing 737-800s and Boeing 737-700s from the airport, which handles domestic flights from all parts of Latin America's largest nation.

Officials said the ban would have affected 10,000 passengers a day and caused severe delays across Brazil. Brazil's two largest airlines -- Tam Linhas Aereas SA and Gol Linhas Inteligentes SA -- would have been forced to divert many planes to airports outside of Sao Paulo.

The injunction said the airport's main runway needs to be extended 388 meters (1,275 feet) to provide an adequate safety margin for the three aircraft -- the largest planes that use Congonhas.

santobonao

February 9th, 2007, 08:51 AM

hkskyline

February 14th, 2007, 05:19 AM

Brazil's Gol plans to fly to Mexico in 2007

LIMA, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Low-cost airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes expects permits this year to operate flights to Mexico from Lima as it pursues aggressive expansion in the region, the Brazilian carrier said on Tuesday.

"We are working on authorization to fly to Mexico from Lima, for the Sao Paulo-Lima-Mexico route ... we are hoping to get the permit this year," said Gol's vice-president of marketing, Tarcisio Gargioni.

Gol operates about 600 flights per day, including routes to Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. Flights started this week to Peru.

Gargioni said the airline, which wants to fly to every country in South America by 2010, is setting its targets now on flights to Venezuela and Colombia.

Last month Gol reported that fourth-quarter profit fell by nearly half due to flight cancellations and delays that reduced its load factor.

Gargioni said the company expects to boost revenue from operations by 45 percent this year, and to cut costs by 9 percent.

The company also plans to increase the size of its fleet, currently at 65 planes, to 80 planes by the end of this year and to 101 craft by 2012, Gargioni said.

hkskyline

February 15th, 2007, 04:34 AM

Chile's LAN 4th-qtr profit jumps 88 pct

SANTIAGO, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Chile's dominant carrier LAN Airlines said on Wednesday quarterly profit jumped 88 percent, easily topping expectations.

It said in a statement, it made a net profit of $93.6 million in the fourth quarter. In the final three months of 2005 it earned $49.9 million.

The average estimate in a Reuters poll this week was for a fourth-quarter net profit of $73.4 million.

Net profit jumped 64.6 percent to $241.3 million in 2006 from $146.6 million in 2005.

LAN, one of the biggest airlines in Latin America with affiliates in Ecuador, Peru and Argentina, said total revenues in 2006 grew 21.1 percent to $3.03 billion.

Revenue from passenger traffic rose 24.2 percent, while revenue from cargo transport climbed 17.8 percent.

LAN said the increases were due to growth in its international business, the opening of new routes and an increase in its passenger-per-kilometer ratio.

It carried 15.9 percent more passengers on international flights in 2006 than in 2005.

hkskyline

February 21st, 2007, 08:15 AM

Black box in Brazil crash reveals series of errors

SAO PAULO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The cockpit voice recorder from a private jet involved in Brazil's worst ever air crash and dialogues among traffic controllers point to a series of errors and misunderstandings that may have contributed to the accident, a local newspaper reported on Sunday.

The 290-page transcript of the recordings, obtained by the Folha de S.Paulo, is part of an ongoing investigation into the causes of a mid-air collision between a Legacy business jet and a Boeing 737 on Sept. 29 that killed 154 people.

The Legacy and the Boeing, operated by Brazilian carrier Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes, clipped wings at 37,000 feet over the Amazon rain forest. The Gol plane crashed into the jungle, killing everyone on board.

The Legacy, made by Brazilian jet maker Embraer, made an emergency landing at a remote airstrip after losing a winglet. The plane had just been delivered to ExcelAire, a charter service based in Ronkonkoma, New York.

The recordings, parts of which were published by Folha, show that the ExcelAire pilots had trouble understanding the English spoken by Brazilian air traffic controllers. The plane was flown by Joseph Lepore, 42, and Jan Paladino, 34, both of New York state.

According to the transcript, which Folha translated into Portuguese, the control tower in Sao Jose dos Campos authorized the Legacy before take-off to fly at 37,000 feet but made no mention of other altitudes foreseen in the original flight plan. Apparently unsure of what they heard, the pilots asked three times for clarification without getting a response.

The transcript, which was prepared by the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington, also shows that air traffic controllers in Brasilia mistakenly believed that the Legacy was flying at 36,000 feet.

The recordings suggest that Lepore and Paladino never saw the Boeing on their radar screen. At the time of impact, one of the pilots said: "What the hell was that?" Almost a half hour passed before they mentioned the possibility that they might have collided with another plane.

A spokesman for the Brazilian Air Force, which is leading the investigation, would not confirm or deny the content of the transcript. He insisted, however, that the document was not leaked by the Air Force and complained that its publication could hamper the investigation.

The transcript appears to corroborate the findings of a preliminary report in November by the Air Force, which pointed to potential problems with the Legacy's Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System.

The recordings confirm that the Legacy's transponder, which tracks a plane's position relative to the ground and other aircraft, was either turned off or had malfunctioned. They also show that the pilots did not realize the problem until after the collision.

Under Brazilian law, it is the control tower's responsibility to notify a pilot when an aircraft's transponder is not working properly. (Additional reporting by Alberto Alerigi Jr.)

hkskyline

February 22nd, 2007, 04:24 AM

Spain's Air Comet gets approval to fly to Chile

SANTIAGO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Spanish airline Air Comet has gotten the green light from Chile's Civil Aeronautical Board (JAC) to begin flying between Madrid and Santiago -- a route that has been saturated since the demise of Spain's Air Madrid.

"The number of passengers on those flights is fairly high, and a new operator bringing more competition to the market is good news," JAC secretary general Jorge Frei told Reuters on Wednesday.

The number of direct flights between Santiago and Madrid dropped when Air Madrid went out of business in December. Since then the only airlines operating the route have been Chile's LAN and Spain's Iberia .

The demand for flights is intense. Passenger traffic on the route increased 17 percent last year, well above the 5.3 percent average for international flights to and from Chile.

Air Comet, which already has the approval of Spanish authorities to operate the route, said last month it planned to start flying to Chile in March.

hkskyline

February 23rd, 2007, 04:25 AM

LAN boosts stake in LAN Argentina to 70 pct-report

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Chile's dominant airline LAN Airlines has boosted its stake in LAN Argentina to 70 percent from 49 percent, leading Argentine daily Clarin reported on Thursday.

Jorge Perez Alati, one of LAN Argentina's shareholders, told Clarin: "There were capital increases in recent months in which all the partners participated, but LAN's contributions were greater. Our participation, which was 51 percent, has been slashed to approximately 30 percent."

LAN Airlines declined to comment and no one at LAN Argentina was immediately available to comment on the report.

On the Santiago Stock Exchange LAN shares rose 3.13 percent to 7.950 pesos per share. The company's American depositary receipts rose 3.2 percent to $73.80 on the New York Stock Exchange.

LAN was up "because of the expansion (reported) today ... and due to the outlook that it could enter Brazil through Varig," said Rodrigo Sarria, deputy manager at Intervalores brokerage in Santiago.

When LAN Airlines first began operating in Argentina, it created a new company, and Argentine regulations barred it from owning more than 50 percent of that company's capital.

A subsequent change to the aeronautical code, however, cleared the way for LAN Airlines to increase its participation in LAN Argentina, Clarin said. (Additional reporting by Manuel Farias)

hkskyline

February 27th, 2007, 08:41 AM

Brazilian aviation official calls for bigger foreign stakes in airlines
23 February 2007

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Rules restricting ownership of Brazilian airlines should be relaxed to let foreign companies control much larger stakes, a leading government aviation official said Friday.

The limit on foreign participation in Brazilian airlines should be boosted from the current 20 percent to 49 percent, said National Civil Aviation Authority President Milton Zuanazzi, according to the Agencia Estado news service.

"Twenty percent is a very small amount," Zuanazzi said, adding that a bill proposing such a change is being presented in Congress.

Raising the cap on foreign ownership would likely increase foreign investment in South America's largest air travel market. It could also help struggling airline Viacao Aerea Rio-Grandense SA, or Varig, regain market share it lost after it imploded under crushing debt last year.

Last month Chilean carrier LAN Airline SA offered US$17 million (euro12.9 million) in credit to Varig. But current laws limit LAN or other companies from more aggressive moves to help Varig try to regain its spot as Brazil's top airline, such as pumping cash into the company in return for a larger stake.

Varig was Brazil's largest airline and the nation's flagship carrier until financial troubles led it to be auctioned off last year in bankruptcy proceedings.

Brazil's largest carriers are now Tam Linhas Aereas SA and Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA.

hkskyline

March 7th, 2007, 11:28 AM

Bomb scare shuts Venezuelan airport; no bomb found
6 March 2007

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - A Venezuelan airport was closed down Tuesday after receiving what appeared to be a false bomb threat, the airport's director said.

An anonymous phone call alerted officials to a purported bomb aboard a flight carrying 291 passengers from Amsterdam, Manuel Millan, director of the international airport on Margarita island, told reporters.

Millan said that "everything seems to indicate that ... (it) is false, nothing has been found."

Explosive experts from the investigative police had cordoned off the aircraft, and airport operations have been suspended as a precaution, he said.

The airport received a similar phone call Monday, which had forced its closure for two hours and no bomb was found, Millan added.

The airport serves one of Venezuela's most popular tourist destinations located about 350 kilometers (220 miles) from Caracas.

hkskyline

March 20th, 2007, 09:12 AM

Brazil's Air Traffic System Again Fails
19 March 2007

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Brazil's airlines were trying to make up for lengthy flight delays Monday after its troubled air traffic control system failed over the weekend, stranding travelers just months after a breakdown that enraged thousands of passengers.

A control center in Brasilia that monitors flights through the nation's populous southeast region had suffered a communications equipment failure, Brazil's Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Then power went out at the airport in Brasilia, making the problem worse, officials confirmed Monday. Unusually heavy rains in Sao Paulo put even more strain on the system.

Nearly 30 percent of the flights scheduled for takeoff by Monday afternoon across Latin America's largest nation were delayed, the official Agencia Brasil news service said. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva held an emergency meeting with high-level advisers and ordered them to put in place "effective and efficient" backup systems to put an end to the travel woes.

Authorities believe a software problem caused the breakdown, which prompted controllers to take safety measures, boosting the amount of time between takeoffs and landings at the country's busiest airports.

Though passengers were angered at the delays and spent hours waiting in airports and aboard parked planes, there wasn't a repeat of the chaotic wave of cancellations and delays just ahead of the busy Christmas travel season caused by equipment failures and a work slowdown by controllers.

Authorities first predicted Brazilian flight departures would return to normal by Monday but later extended their estimate to Tuesday afternoon.

The flight delays began several months after a collision between a Gol airlines Boeing 737 and an Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet killed 154 passengers on Sept. 29 in the country's worst air disaster.

After the crash, air traffic controllers significantly slowed airline operations by following regulations to the letter in a "work-to-rule" protest to demand better pay and working conditions.

hkskyline

April 20th, 2007, 06:31 PM

Brazil Gol Q1 profit sinks on flight cancellations

BRASILIA, April 19 (Reuters) - Low-cost Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes said on Thursday its first-quarter profit fell by more than a third due to flight cancellations and delays that reduced its load factor.

Gol said ongoing problems in Brazil's air traffic system caused flight cancellations that affected travel demand and in turn eroded its passenger occupancy rates in the first quarter.

Net income, calculated under U.S. accounting rules, fell to 116.6 million reais ($57.4 million) from 179.8 million reais in the same quarter last year and 92.7 million reais in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Gol shares fell 0.85 percent to 29.10 reais in Sao Paulo Thursday before the results were released.

The average fare paid by passengers fell 22 percent in the first quarter, and Gol's load factor slipped to 69.8 percent from 70.6 percent in the same quarter a year ago.

Net revenue from passengers rose 18 percent from the year earlier, but operating costs rose twice as much, increasing 43 percent on the year.

Brazil's air traffic has had trouble since Sept. 29, when a Boeing 737 flown by Gol clipped wings with a business jet over the Amazon, causing the 737 to crash into the jungle.

Air traffic controllers have staged periodic work slowdowns to protest work conditions and faulty equipment, causing hundreds of flight delays and cancellations.

In April Gol paid $320 million in cash, stock and debt to buy smaller rival Varig, which controls coveted slots in Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport and routes to the United States and Europe.

The acquisition will bring Gol's domestic market share closer to that of its main rival, TAM Linhas Aereas, which controls nearly half of Brazil's domestic air travel.

Gol's share of the domestic air travel market was 38.5 percent at the end of the first quarter compared with 28.8 percent a year ago.

The incorporation of Varig's fleet and the planned addition of another Boeing 737 in the second quarter should increase Gol's overall number of seats available per kilometer flown by about 80 percent.

Gol forecast a load factor of 71 percent for the second quarter and more or less 72 percent by the end of the year.

Long-term debt rose to 1.43 billion reais at the end of March from 949 million reais three months before.

hkskyline

April 22nd, 2007, 06:42 AM

U.S. company blames faulty Brazilian air traffic control for fatal crash
21 April 2007

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - ExcelAire said faulty Brazilian air traffic control was to blame for a middair collision between one of the U.S. company's executive jets and a commercial airliner that killed 154 people in Brazil's deadliest air disaster.

The Gol airlines Boeing 737 and an ExcelAire Legacy 600 jet clipped each other Sept. 29 over the Amazon jungle. The Gol airlines jet crashed, killing all aboard, and the Legacy jet landed safely.

In a 154-page report to Brazilian federal police this month -- released Saturday to The Associated Press -- ExcelAire said an analysis of air traffic control transmissions and the black boxes in the Legacy "confirmed that both planes were freed by Air Traffic Control to fly at the same altitude and the same path, in opposite directions."

Brazilian officials were not immediately available to comment on the report.

Brazilian investigators say the controllers bear some responsibility for the crash but Defense Minister Waldir Pires recently defended Brazil's air traffic control system as one of the safest in the world.

Pires suggested the collision was the fault of the ExcelAire jet's American pilots because the Legacy's transponder, which operates the aircraft's anti-collision system, was not turned on or malfunctioned.

Family members of those killed in the crash have filed lawsuits in federal court in Miami seeking millions of dollars (euros) in damages. They claim the Legacy pilots did not maintain proper altitude or properly communicate with Brazilian air traffic controllers.

Ronkonkoma, N.Y.-based ExcelAire's report also said there were problems with some of the equipment aboard the Legacy, made by Brazilian manufacturer Embraer.

"An avionics component, where some radio communications systems and one of the transponders are installed, was returned to Honeywell ( Honeywell International Inc.), the manufacturer, in April 2006 because of operational problems," the report said.

"Despite the functional problems verified in these components ... Embraer decided to install them in the Legacy sold to ExcelAire," it said.

The Legacy was flying from the southern city of Sao Jose dos Campos to the United States when the accident occurred at 37,000 feet (11,300 meters), an altitude usually reserved for flights headed in the opposite direction.

Legacy pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino, both of New York, were accused by police of exposing an aircraft to danger. They have agreed to return to Brazil to face any criminal charges.

hkskyline

May 9th, 2007, 07:52 AM

Gol's April Traffic Grows 49.1 Percent
Friday May 4, 5:51 pm ET

NEW YORK (AP) -- Brazilian carrier Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA said Friday its April traffic grew 49.1 percent on a 63.5 percent expansion of capacity.

The carrier said its traffic rose to 1.67 billion revenue passenger kilometers, an industry unit measuring one paying passenger flown one kilometer. Capacity expanded to 2.35 billion available seat kilometers, while occupancy declined to 70.8 percent from 77.6 percent.

Gol said domestic traffic grew 41.8 percent to 1.47 billion revenue passenger kilometers on a 50.7 percent capacity expansion to 1.99 billion available seat kilometers. International traffic more than doubled to 200.8 million revenue passenger kilometers on triple capacity growth to 366.3 million available seat kilometers.

Gol's U.S.-listed shares slipped a penny to close at $29.08.

daloso

May 11th, 2007, 05:08 PM

The last news ¿what has to do with south american aviation?

hkskyline

May 17th, 2007, 05:44 AM

LAN Argentina workers vow to continue strike

BUENOS AIRES, May 15 (Reuters) - Workers at the Argentine affiliate of Chile's LAN Airlines broke off talks with the company and extended indefinitely a strike that has grounded flights for two days, a union representative said on Tuesday.

The strike by pilots, technicians and ground staff is over what the employees say is the company's violating the union's collective bargaining rights. The company says it is in compliance with labor law.

"The strike will continue indefinitely. We've cut off talks," said Juan Pappalardo, general secretary of the Aeronautic Technical Staff Association, told reporters at Aeroparque, Buenos Aires' domestic airport for flights between the capital and provinces.

Union leaders said the strike was not over salaries.

LAN Argentina's spokesman was not immediately available for comment on the union saying talks had broken off.

Earlier in the day he said talks were ongoing with the labor ministry mediating and that he hoped flights would resume shortly.

LAN Argentina represents about 3 percent of LAN Airline's revenue.

LAN shares closed 0.28 percent higher on Tuesday at 8,360 pesos per share on the Santiago bourse while its American Depositary Shares were up 0.12 percent to $80.62 on the New York Stock Exchange.

hkskyline

May 23rd, 2007, 06:22 AM

Poor radar coverage cited in Brazil crash involving LI pilots
22 May 2007

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) - The president of the Brazilian flight controllers union said Tuesday that poor worker training and radar coverage contributed to the country's deadliest plane crash, which involved two pilots from Long Island and killed 154 people.

Testifying before a congressional commission investigating Brazil's troubled air traffic control system, Jorge Botelho said aviation authorities share responsibility for the midair collision for not adequately schooling controllers in English. He said the country's radar coverage also has blind spots.

"In my view, the controllers could have erred," Botelho said, "but I can't accept punishing the controllers without punishing the authorities that didn't provide the adequate means or didn't overcome the deficiencies that could have brought the controllers to the accident."

On Sept. 29, an Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet collided with a Gol airlines Boeing 737 over the Amazon rain forest. The Gol plane crashed, killing everyone aboard, while the Legacy, owned by Ronkonkoma, N.Y.-based ExcelAire, landed safely.

The disaster touched off months of nationwide protests by air controllers, who complained of precarious work conditions.

Officials are also considering whether to bring charges against the two pilots of the Legacy, saying they failed to notice the jet's transponder was not signaling the plane's location at the time of the crash.

The pilots, Joseph Lepore, of Bay Shore, N.Y., and Jan Paladino, of Westhampton Beach, N.Y., have repeatedly denied wrongdoing and say controllers approved their flight course.

hkskyline

June 22nd, 2007, 06:06 AM

INTERVIEW-Brazil's Gol cuts costs, bets on Varig expansion

SAO PAULO, June 21 (Reuters) - Low-cost Brazilian airline Gol, known for ticketless check-ins and granola bar lunches, has tightened the belt further since buying rival Varig in April and the cost cuts should bear fruit this year, Chief Executive Officer Constantino Oliveira said.

Since the $320 million takeover, Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes , has returned inefficient planes, renegotiated fuel contracts and leasing agreements for Varig's jets to bring costs lower.

Gol, Brazil's No. 2 carrier after TAM Linhas Aereas , is also in talks to change Varig's insurance contracts and is negotiating new deals for baggage handling and plane pushback across Brazil, in Frankfurt and Buenos Aires.

"We have reviewed Varig from top to bottom," Oliveira told Reuters in an interview on Thursday. "Naturally, we took over a company that was still in a difficult situation. We expect to reverse that and look for a break-even in the short term."

Once Latin America's largest airline, Varig emerged from bankruptcy protection last July after being sold for $24 million to a group of investors including U.S. investment fund Matlin Patterson.

Gol on Wednesday cut its forecast for 2007 net sales, operating margin and earnings per share. Oliveira said the company had to lower ticket prices to attract passengers, as concerns resurfaced over lengthy airport delays due to workers protesting the state of Brazil's air traffic system.

"Despite having a pretty calm start to the second quarter, another of these work slowdowns (by controllers) ends up really affecting airlines," Oliveira said. "We hope these problems are solved very fast."

Airline ticket prices should recoup slightly, though average prices this year will be lower than those in 2006 because of increased competition from TAM and smaller rivals BRA Transportes Aereos and Oceanair, according to Oliveira.

"There should be a recovery in prices because they are lower than normal as a result of this turmoil," he said.

To expand Varig's domestic presence, Gol plans to renew the company's fleet of 16 Boeing 737 jets with 737-800 planes, which should help save on fuel costs, Oliveira said. Varig should receive five 737-800s beginning in September and another four between March and April of 2008.

For long-range jets, Gol expects to close by the end of 2007 a new contract to renew Varig's fleet, and the company is in talks with both Boeing and Airbus , Oliveira said. The deal would be for Boeing 787s or Airbus 350s planes.

INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS

Gol will seek to avoid losing Varig's international flight allotments, which have not been used after Varig stopped serving several destinations while under bankruptcy protection. TAM is vying for the unused international slots, which are closely regulated by international agreements.

Gol has ordered 14 Boeing 767s as it expands Varig's international flights. Ten of those will be in operation in 2007 and the remainder next year, Oliveira said. The company plans to fly to Madrid, Rome, London and Paris by the end of year, in addition to Mexico City.

"We won't lose any of those routes if all that we have planned and are carrying out comes to fruition," he said. "Naturally, our competitors are defending their interests."

Flights to Miami and New York in the United States will be resumed in 2008, he said.

Bogota

June 23rd, 2007, 10:23 PM

AVIANCA
Avianca, Colombia´s largest airline has added 19 more airplanes to its order with Airbus Industry. After having ordered 33 Airbus A319/320 and 5 A330-200 in May, Avianca has announced this week they will make effective their option for an additional 14 A319/320 plus 5 A330. These airplanes together with the order for 10 Boeing 787 + 10 options made in April will renew the airlines MD 83 and Boeing 757/767 fleet.

The airline expects the first aircraft to arrive early in 2008 and to finalize the delivery of these aircraft between 2010 and 2011 when Bogota´s El Dorado airport is also finalizing its 730 million dollar revamp for its passenger terminal plus the 550 million dollar revamp of its cargo terminals.

hkskyline

June 25th, 2007, 08:33 AM

Air Travel Scary in South America
23 June 2007

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - Flying through South America's busiest airports has become frightening and time-consuming for passengers and pilots alike as a surge in travelers overwhelms underfunded air traffic control systems.

The Argentine capital's main airport radar hasn't worked properly since being struck by lightning in March, meaning jets must fly under manual control, causing delays and at least two near-collisions, according to air traffic controllers. A September crash that was Brazil's deadliest air disaster exposed other gaps, from inadequate equipment to poor training.

Angry stranded travelers have stormed airline check-in counters and runways and fistfights have broken out in waiting areas. Controllers -- concerned about being made scapegoats -- have engaged in strikes and work slowdowns to raise safety concerns.

The problems in Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo ripple through Latin America and beyond as travelers make connecting flights. On Friday, all flights from Sao Paulo to Europe and the United States were temporarily suspended due to equipment failure and another slowdown by controllers.

Brazil and Argentina acknowledge failing to make needed investments in radar for decades, even as South America's booming economies fueled growth in air travel. Foreign travelers to Buenos Aires' main international airport have more than doubled in five years to 2.1 million in 2006, while the number of domestic flights in Brazil has risen by 49 percent, the governments say.

The world's pilots have lobbied to solve the problems since a Boeing 737 wound up on a collision course with a small executive jet over the Amazon on Sept. 29, killing all 154 people on the passenger jet.

A Brazilian judge indicted four flight controllers and the smaller jet's two American pilots on the equivalent of manslaughter charges, but the defendants point to other problems, from holes in radar coverage to the inability of some Brazilian controllers to clearly speak English, the language of international aviation.

Passengers are getting jittery, too.

Meghan Bolden, a 26-year-old American studying in Buenos Aires, sweated through takeoff on her United Airlines flight home to Washington.

"The pilot, who was American, got on and said we were going to be taking off manually because there was no radar. But it was pitch black and we couldn't see anything on the tarmac," Bolden said. "It's like we were back in the Wright brothers era."

Manual takeoffs, spaced several minutes apart, are widely accepted under commercial aviation rules, and Argentine Defense Minister Nilda Garre has insisted her country's system is safe. "There is no such thing as air insecurity" in Argentina, she told an Argentine Senate committee on May 22.

She denied a claim by air controllers of at least two near-collisions due to faulty radar. According to transcripts, a U.S. business jet and an Aerosur flight came close enough for the Aerosur pilot to see the other captain's uniform. Another recording indicates that one jet circling over Buenos Aires crossed just 300 yards over another. But Garre acknowledged that the Argentine government has long deferred costly investments in new radars.

Bill Voss, president of the independent Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Va., said Argentine authorities were not "exactly forthcoming" with the public about the lightning damage.

"Under any circumstances, having a radar down for three months indicates some significant problems in terms of funding and logistics," Voss said. "It should not be that hard to get radar service restored at a major airport."

The International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations, representing more than 100,000 pilots worldwide, issued a June 1 bulletin saying it was "surprised to learn that three months after it was damaged by a lightning strike, the radar station covering Buenos Aires still has not been repaired."

And Marc Baumgartner, president of International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations, wondered if Argentine controllers have enough training in manual controls.

"The problem is with air traffic controllers who are used to working with a radar environment, who are then asked to work in a blind air traffic control environment," Baumgartner said. "These controllers have to be more sufficiently trained."

------

Associated Press writers Michael Astor and Peter Muello in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, contributed to this report.

hkskyline

August 3rd, 2007, 03:00 AM

Brazil airline TAM sales drop 30 pct after crash

BRASILIA, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Sales for Brazil's TAM Linhas Aereas have dropped 30 percent since one of its planes barreled down a slick runway, crashed into a warehouse and burst into flames, Chief Executive Marco Antonio Bologna said on Tuesday.

Sales have fallen due to various factors, including ongoing chaos in air travel in Brazil, the end of local holidays and measures taken by aviation authorities since the crash, Bologna told lawmakers in comments confirmed by the company.

Bologna spoke to Brazilian lawmakers who are investigating 10 months of on-and-off chaos in the air traffic system.

The chaos boiled over on July 17, when the TAM crash became the worst air disaster in Brazil's history. The accident killed all 187 people on the plane and at least 12 more on the ground, among them TAM employees working in the warehouse.

Bologna said TAM's insurance will pay up to $1.5 billion to the families of victims and others injured by the accident. TAM will pay any additional amount required, he said.

Brazil's complex and often slow judicial system tends to favor companies in reaching settlements with injured parties.

But the family of one passenger who died in the crash has already filed suit against TAM in a U.S. court, and almost a dozen more are in talks with the same law firm.

The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for Southern Florida, also names aircraft manufacturer Airbus , the Goodrich Corp. , and International Aero Engines (IAE) as defendants.

Authorities are still investigating the accident but aviation experts have said that, based on information made public, mechanical or pilot errors may have contributed.

The jet was an Airbus 320, and TAM has said one of its thrust reversers, which aid braking by reversing air flow through the engines, was shut down because of a defect.

Thrust reversers are not required for safe landing. TAM has said the Airbus manual allows airlines to keep flying a craft with an inoperable thrust reverser for up to 10 days before repairing it.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva fired his defense minister, Brazil's top aviation official, in the wake of the TAM crash. The new minister has initiated a restructuring of national air traffic.

The TAM crash occurred 10 months after what had been Brazil's worst air disaster. Two planes clipped wings in mid-air over the Amazon, and a Boeing operated by Gol Linhas Aereas plunged into the jungle, killing all 154 people on board.

hkskyline

November 10th, 2007, 11:49 AM

Iberia Airbus slides off runway closing Quito airport for 2 days

QUITO, Nov 9, 2007 (AFP) - An Iberia Airlines Airbus with 347 people on board skidded off a wet runway on landing Friday at Quito's Mariscal Sucre airport, causing some damage but no injuries and shutting the airport down for two days, officials said.

"The plane ran off the end of the runway due to a pilot maneuver, suffering some damage to its landing gear and one of its wings, (but) there were no personal tragedies to speak of," said airport director Diego Pachel.

Air Transport undersecretary Guillermo Bernal said the Airbus A340-600 was on a Madrid-Quito-Guayaquil-Madrid route and landed in Quito during a drizzle.

Some passengers said they saw a tire blow out as the plane touched down and smoke billowing from one of the engines.

The damaged airliner remained parked at the end of the runway where it came to a halt while the incident was under investigation.

The airport will be closed for two days and all flights diverted to Guayaquil, 275 kilometers (170 miles) southeast of Quito, airport authorities said.

hkskyline

November 11th, 2007, 07:34 PM

Chile's LAN October passenger traffic up 17.5 pct

SANTIAGO, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Chile's dominant airline LAN said on Friday its passenger traffic rose 17.5 percent in October compared with the same month last year.

LAN, which has affiliates in Ecuador, Peru and Argentina, accounts for over half of Chile's international passenger traffic and nearly three quarters of its domestic traffic. (Reporting by Manuel Farias, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

hkskyline

November 14th, 2007, 08:38 AM

Brazil's Gol Struggles Amid Air Crisis
13 November 2007

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--When Brazil's Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (GOL) launched shares in Sao Paulo and New York in June 2004, it sounded like an investor's dream - a new, extremely profitable airline from a corner of the world where more and more people were ditching buses to hop on planes.

But three years later, investors are not so sure Gol has really scored. Questions about whether Gol is still true to the low-cost carrier model after a major acquisition, coupled with an ongoing crisis in the Brazilian civil aviation sector, have left too much uncertainty on the table.

The skies became cloudy for civil aviation in Brazil in September 2006, when a Gol airliner crashed with an executive jet mid-air, killing all 154 people onboard the Gol plane.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, Gol bought the assets of legacy airline Varig, the antithesis of all that Gol seemed to stand for.

More recently, management has been under fire for lowering financial guidance in October and then again earlier this month. There's also been chatter regarding a stock buyback and interest from other investors, including private-equity groups, in buying Gol.

"They are not really giving people much of a sense of where they are going, or where the company stands," Citi analyst Steve Trent said.

Gol's 2004 IPO was three times oversubscribed, with international investors snapping up some two-thirds of the shares offered. Their enthusiasm was justified: A year earlier, Gol was the world's second-most profitable carrier after Ireland's Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY), one of the pioneer low-cost airlines.

Gol, with a catchy name that translates to soccer's goal followed by "smart airline" in Portuguese, seemed ready to reap the benefits of being the sole budget airline in Brazil. The company, led by the young scion of the Constantino family, which has ties to the Brazilian transportation market, offered flights to anyone with Internet access and as little as BRL1 (56 cents) in his or her pockets. In its early days, Gol did many BRL1 promotions on one-way flights.

But with the hit the shares have been taking lately - down almost 16% so far this month - Gol's management has said the Constantino family was considering a share buyback. Management was mum in a third-quarter conference call Wednesday regarding any repurchase plans or the private-equity interest in the company.

Chief Financial Officer and Vice President Richard Lark did say that controlling shareholders continue to mull alternatives and that the market would be notified in due course if anything concrete took place.

On acquiring Varig assets, Gol said it is working to incorporate the low-cost model that made it successful into the daily operations of Varig, or VRG, as the company is now called. After buying Varig assets, Gol Linhas Aereas became the parent company of GOL Transportes Aereos and VRG Linhas Aereas.

"We have re-negotiated leasing contracts, reduced maintenance reserves, and adjusted sales commissions through contract negotiations. Lastly, we are redesigning VRG's organizational structure to increase productivity while hiring additional employees, and reducing IT costs through outsourcing and re-negotiated contracts," Gol said in a written statement.

But the company's bottom line has been hurt - shares of Gol have fallen nearly 17% in the last 12 months and receded 4.3% in the last three months. Meanwhile, arch-rival TAM SA (TAM), Brazil's dominant airline, has lost 9.9% in the last 12 months and gained 0.1% in the past three months.

Brazil's aviation crisis also hurts TAM's stock, but analysts are more positive on TAM, as the company has a stronger foothold on international flights. TAM has made no acquisitions recently, so there's no integration risk for the firm.

Gol trades at a premium compared to TAM. According to Factset, Gol's 2008 price-to-earnings ratio hovers around 23, while TAM's P/E ratio stands at 14. That premium was justified when Gol followed the low-cost carrier model, but since the company acquired Varig's assets, "that argument entirely goes out the window," Trent said. "Gol is no longer a pure LCC," he added.

For Boston-based fund manager Urban Larson, with F&C Management, Gol's strategy in buying Varig assets is "unproven," given that the company "was quite successful as a LCC."

In the past, F&C has owned Gol shares, but the fund got out when "uncertainty surrounding the (Brazilian civil aviation) sector did not make us want to continue holding the stock," Larson said. He declined to disclose when he sold his positions on Gol.

Gol's plane crash last year exposed infrastructure weaknesses in the Brazilian civil aviation sector, which was giving signs it was ill-equipped to handle increased demand. Since then, the industry has had to cope with frequent air traffic controller strikes, management upheaval in the regulating agency, and other wrinkles leading to stranded passengers and scores of chronically late planes or canceled flights.

The crisis hit rock bottom in July, when a TAM airliner overran the runway and went down in flames at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport, killing 199 people. That led to restrictions to operations in the airport, one of Brazil's busiest.

Gol saw its operations, heavily reliant on Congonhas, deeply affected. The company reported third-quarter net profit of BRL45.5 million, down from BRL190 million in the same period a year ago.

Small Brazilian airline BRA Transportes Aereos last week temporarily suspended all its flights amid financial problems. Gol and other Brazilian air carriers have been honoring BRA tickets.

But not all the news is bad for Gol. On Thursday, UBS Investment Research upgraded Gol to hold from sell, thanks to the bank's belief there's room for better profits. "We highlight significantly stronger than expected (October) passenger traffic ... coupled with BRA's struggles as key supporting arguments," UBS said.

Time may very well be on Gol's side. Market participants say that despite the current problems, the airline's long-term story, on the back of domestic demand trends, still looks interesting, since demand for flights is expected to continue to grow in Latin America and in Brazil.

hkskyline

November 15th, 2007, 06:20 AM

One-day strike over back wages halts Bolivia's busiest airport
14 November 2007

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) - A one-day stoppage by workers demanding back pay forced authorities to cancel all flights at Bolivia's busiest airport on Wednesday.

Employees at Viru Viru International Airport in the eastern city of Santa Cruz called a 24-hour strike to demand two months' of back pay frozen by the government. President Evo Morales' administration has placed a hold on the funds while investigating allegations of corruption at Viru Viru.

Among the flights canceled was American Airlines' Tuesday night-Wednesday circuit from Miami to La Paz to Santa Cruz and back to Miami.

Service at the airport, however, was expected to return to normal Thursday.

Santa Cruz is a center of opposition to Morales's leftist government. In October, airport officials demanded airlines pay their landing fees to local authorities in cash, rather than deposit the money with the government's aviation agency.

Morales ordered soldiers to take control of the airport, but later withdrew the troops to avoid bloodshed as thousands of Santa Cruz residents seized the facility.

The relatively rich state of Santa Cruz has long sought greater autonomy from Bolivia's central government, demanding a bigger share of its natural gas revenues. Morales argues that the cash should go to help other poorer parts of the country.

Rodrigo_BSB

November 24th, 2007, 02:19 AM

The first one (of two) A340-500 for TAM, registered as PT-MSN (ex C-GKOL with Air Canada):

http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/1512/tama345zc3.jpg

This aircraft will be used from GRU to FRA.

The other A340-500 will be the ex C-GKOM. Both are temporary in TAM's fleet, untill the delivery of the 777-300ER from Boeing (TAM ordered 8 Boeing 777-300ER).

hkskyline

November 24th, 2007, 05:05 AM

^ Ah .. the plane that used to fly the YYZ-HKG route.

hkskyline

November 27th, 2007, 05:43 AM

Skies Cloud for Brazilian Airline
21 November 2007
The Wall Street Journal

When Brazil's Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA listed in Sao Paulo and New York in June 2004, it sounded like an investor's dream -- a new, very profitable airline from a corner of the world where more and more people were ditching buses to hop on planes.

But three years later, investors aren't so sure Gol has really scored. Questions about whether Gol is still true to the low-cost carrier model after a major acquisition, coupled with a continuing crisis in the Brazilian civil aviation sector, have left investors uncertain.

The skies became cloudy for civil aviation in Brazil in September 2006, when a Gol airliner crashed in midair with an executive jet, killing all 154 people on board the Gol plane.

Earlier this year, Gol bought the assets of legacy airline Varig. More recently, management has been under fire for lowering financial guidance in October and then again earlier this month. There's also been talk of a stock buyback and interest from other investors, including private-equity groups, in buying Gol.

"They are not really giving people much of a sense of where they are going, or where the company stands," Citi analyst Steve Trent said.

Gol's 2004 IPO was three times oversubscribed, with international investors snapping up two-thirds of the shares offered. Their enthusiasm was understandable: A year earlier, Gol was the world's second most profitable carrier, after low-cost pioneer Ryanair Holdings PLC of Ireland.

Gol, with a catchy name that translates to a soccer goal, followed by "smart airline," seemed ready to reap the benefits of being the sole budget airline in Brazil. The company, led by a member of the Constantino family, which has ties to the Brazilian transportation market, offered flights to anyone with Internet access and as little as one real (57 cents) in his or her pocket. In its early days, Gol did many one-real promotions on one-way flights.

But the shares have taken a hit lately, and were down almost 16% by mid-November. Gol's management has said the Constantino family was considering a share buyback. In a third-quarter conference call last week, management didn't discuss any repurchase plans or the private-equity interest in the company. Chief Financial Officer and Vice President Richard Lark did say that controlling shareholders continue to mull alternatives and that the market would be notified in due course if anything concrete took place.

After it bought Varig's assets, Gol Linhas Aereas became the parent company of GOL Transportes Aereos and VRG Linhas Aereas. Gol said it is working to incorporate its low-cost model into the daily operations of Varig, or VRG, as the company is now called.

"We have renegotiated leasing contracts, reduced maintenance reserves, and adjusted sales commissions through contract negotiations," Gol said. "We are redesigning VRG's organizational structure to increase productivity while hiring additional employees, and reducing IT costs through outsourcing." Nonetheless, the company's bottom line still has been hurt.

Brazil's aviation crisis also has damped the stock price of TAM SA, the country's dominant airline, but analysts are more positive on TAM, as the company has a stronger foothold on international flights. TAM has made no acquisitions recently.

Gol trades at a premium compared with TAM. According to Factset, Gol's 2008 price/earnings ratio hovers around 23, while TAM's P/E ratio stands at 14. That premium was justified when Gol followed the low-cost carrier model, but since the company acquired Varig's assets, "that argument entirely goes out the window," Citi's Mr. Trent said. Gol is no longer a pure low-cost carrier, he added.

Boston-based fund manager Urban Larson, of F&C Management, said Gol's strategy in buying Varig assets is "unproven," given that the company "was quite successful as an LCC."

In the past, F&C has owned Gol shares, but the fund got out when "uncertainty surrounding the [Brazilian civil aviation] sector did not make us want to continue holding the stock," Mr. Larson said. He declined to disclose when he sold his positions on Gol.

Gol's plane crash last year exposed infrastructure weaknesses in the Brazilian civil-aviation sector. Since then, the industry has had to cope with frequent air-traffic-controller strikes, management upheaval at the regulating agency, and other wrinkles leading to stranded passengers and scores of chronically late planes or canceled flights.

The crisis was at its worst in July, when a TAM airliner overran the runway and went down in flames at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport, killing 199 people. That led to restrictions to operations in the airport, one of Brazil's busiest.

Gol's operations, heavily reliant on Congonhas, were deeply affected. The company reported third-quarter net profit of 45.5 million reals, down from 190 million reals in the same period a year ago.

Not all the news is bad for Gol. On Nov. 8, UBS Investment Research upgraded Gol to hold from sell, thanks to the bank's belief there's room for better profits. "We highlight significantly stronger than expected [October] passenger traffic . . . coupled with BRA's struggles as key supporting arguments," UBS said.

Time may very well be on Gol's side. Market participants say that despite the current problems, the airline's long-term story, on the back of domestic demand trends, still looks interesting, since demand for flights is expected to continue to grow in Latin America and in Brazil.

hkskyline

December 6th, 2007, 09:58 AM

Brazil Airlines To Reimburse Fares For Delays Under Govt Plan
5 December 2007

SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--Brazilian airlines will have to reimburse passengers up to 50% of their fare, if their flight is delayed, according to new rules proposed by the Defense Ministry to avoid a repeat of the chaos seen at Brazilian airports over the peak summer period last year.

The reimbursements will be made on a sliding scale, starting at 5% of the fare for flights that are 30 minutes late or more, in cases where outside factors weren't to blame, according to the proposal laid out by Defense Minister Nelson Jobim late Tuesday.

For every hour delay, the airline must return 10% of the fare to the passenger, up to 50%.

If approved by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the new rules will be put into a government decree.

Meanwhile, the National Civil Aviation Agency, or Anac, will have the right to suspend airline flights for particular routes, known as slots, if the company cancels over 10% of flights during one month, according another major rule change proposed. At present, airlines lose slots, if over 25% of flights are canceled during a period of three months. This rule change must go to public consultation before being implemented.

The Defense Ministry wants to avoid a repeat of the chaos seen at Brazilian airports in the last high season, which runs from Christmas through the summer months until March.

Last year, mass cancellations and delays were the norm as the airlines and the airports struggled to cope with a surge in demand.

Leading airline TAM S.A. (TAM) was accused of massively overbooking flights.

Brazil's civil aviation industry has been growing quickly over the past five years fed by an increase in the number of flights and greater customer spending power.

However, the growth has exposed shortcomings in the Brazilian air infrastructure at airports and the air traffic control system.

Meanwhile, two major air crashes over the past 15 months have added to the chaos and led the government to impose restrictions on the use of Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport, Brazil's busiest. The government also forced airlines to reallocate routes away from Congonhas, which they used as a domestic hub.

To obtain reimbursement of fares on delayed flights, passengers must wait 30 days for the National Civil Aviation Agency to publish its bulletin on delayed flights, according to the proposal.

It will be the first time passengers has compensation guaranteed by law in Brazil.

Jobim also announced the government would raise fees for keeping airliners on the ground at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport and Guarulhos international airport in order to free up overloaded facilities.

The government plans to charge 403.31 Brazilian reals ($224.06) for a stay of over 166 minutes, whereas before the fees were insignificant, in order to encourage airlines to divert traffic from Congonhas to other airports in Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais.

The airport rule changes must still be put to a public consultation.

Shares in Brazil's leading airlines suffered on news of the restrictions. Shares in TAM S.A. (TAM) were 1.3% lower at BRL49.39, while shares in GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes (GOL) were 1.2% down at BRL46.75 on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange, or Bovespa. In contrast, the benchmark Ibovespa index was 1.9% higher at 64,671 points.

l0nd0n

December 6th, 2007, 05:36 PM

hkskyline

December 6th, 2007, 05:47 PM

Brazil is a huge aviation market in South America, you know? So obviously there'll be more news from there.

Colombia's Aviation Regulator Oks 39 New International Routes
4 December 2007

BOGOTA (Dow Jones)--The Colombian aviation regulator authorized the country's airlines to fly 39 new international flights per week.

Avianca, the biggest carrier, obtained most of the new routes. It will be able to operate 26 new international routes, including three flights per week from Bogota to London and three more to Frankfurt, routes that likely will begin in August next year, Avianca's press officer Yaneth Benitez said Tuesday.

Avianca is returning to both cities after cutting service to them in 2001.

Aeronautica Civil, as the regulator is known, authorized Avianca to fly immediately seven times a week from Bogota to New York, five times from Bogota to Orlando and once from Bogota to Los Angeles.

Starting in October next year, Avianca will fly Bogota-Washington flights six times per week and once a week from Bogota to Los Angeles.

The regulator, though, denied Avianca the Bogota-Panama route.

Avianca is controlled by Brazil's Synergy Group, which pulled the company out of U.S. bankruptcy protection in 2004 and took a 100% stake in the company between 2004 and 2005.

Separately, AeroRepublica, the local unit of Copa Holdings S.A.(CPA) was authorized to fly immediately seven times a week from Bogota to Miami via Barranquilla or Cartagena.

AeroRepublica will also be able to fly five times a week from Cali to Miami via Medellin, starting in April 2008.

Copa Holdings is controlled by U.S. based Continental Airlines Inc. (CAL). In addition, the regulator granted local carrier Aires five flights a week from Bogota to New York immediately and, beginning in April, two more to the same destination.

l0nd0n

December 6th, 2007, 06:11 PM

Brazil is a huge aviation market in South America, you know? So obviously there'll be more news from there.

Thanks dude! We'll be watching!

hkskyline

January 13th, 2008, 06:42 AM

Argentine flight delays spark passenger violence

BUENOS AIRES, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Frustrated passengers smashed ticket counters and threw objects at airline staff at Argentina's main airport on Saturday after the country's flagship airline canceled international flights for a second day.

Television images showed damaged ticket counters and broken glass in the main hall of the Aerolineas Argentinas terminal, where passengers angry at delays caused by a baggage handlers strike and a walkout by ticket counter workers shouted down an Aerolineas Argentinas employee and threw objects at him.

The strike for higher wages had sparked delays at the airport in a Buenos Aires suburb since Friday. Several thousand passengers were stranded when Aerolineas Argentinas canceled its flights abroad, according to local media. Phone calls to the airline and airport company went unanswered on Saturday.

"There's no one from the company, no one is showing their face or telling us when we're going to fly. We're stranded with children and the elderly," a woman whose flight to Venezuela was canceled on Friday told local TV.

Aerolineas Argentinas is 95 percent controlled by Spain's Marsans, with the remainder held by the Argentine state.

hkskyline

January 31st, 2008, 09:40 AM

Chile air passenger traffic growth at 10-year high

SANTIAGO, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Air passenger traffic grew at its fastest rate in a decade in Chile last year, rising 18.4 percent as more than 9 million people boarded domestic and international flights, the government civil aviation authority JAC said on Tuesday.

The JAC said domestic passenger traffic increased 21.2 percent in 2007, at a time when local airlines lowered in-country rates, while international passenger traffic rose 16.1 percent.

LAN Airlines , Chile's top carrier and one of the region's largest, had 52.5 percent market share in international flights in Chile last year, the JAC said. On the domestic side, LAN controlled 74.9 percent of passenger traffic.

hkskyline

February 2nd, 2008, 06:41 PM

Bolivian Plane Crash-Lands, All Survive
1 February 2008

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) - A plane carrying more than 150 people crash-landed in a bog in eastern Bolivia on Friday after fierce storms turned it away from its destination and it tried to reach another airport hundreds of miles away, according to officials and news reports. All on board survived.

Photographs by local media showed the charter Boeing 727, flown by a local airline, in a flooded forest clearing, stripped of at least one wing. A set of landing gear was in the water nearby.

"We noticed the engines went out, and there was this calm," Paolo Bravo, a Bolivian senator who was on board, told the radio network Erbol.

"Then they told us, 'Crash positions! Crash positions!' and it was just another two or three seconds before we hit," he said.

"I think you could call it a belly flop," Bravo added. "The plane fell, the wings broke off, but the fuselage was OK."

The plane took off from the Bolivian capital, La Paz, but severe storms forced it to turn away from its destination in the northern city of Cobija. It then headed some 370 miles south to the eastern lowland city of Trinidad and was three miles short of the runway when the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing.

The plane's flight engineer said it experienced mechanical failure, according to Juan Carlos Zambrano, a reporter on the scene for Radio Patuju.

The plane's original takeoff from La Paz had been delayed for an hour due to unspecified technical problems, said spokesman Abdon Porcel of the Superintendent of Transportation, a non-governmental agency demanding investigation into the crash.

Airline spokesman Gustavo Viscarra said the cause was still under investigation. "It was the decision of the pilot to make a forced landing," he said.

The airline's manager in Trinidad, Patricia Aruz, said no one was killed. Most of the passengers were taken to nearby hospitals for review and several were injured, Zambrano said.

Viscarra said the plane was carrying 155 passengers but gave no figures for the number of crew.

But Zambrano, citing the flight engineer, said the plane had only 154 seats but was carrying 159 passengers, along with nine crew members.

The airline, known as LAB, was privatized in 1996 and has been in and out of bankruptcy in recent years. It now runs a skeleton fleet of just two planes on a charter basis.

LAB was operating the Boeing 727 as a charter for Transporte Aereo Militar, another small Bolivian airline. TAM has chartered LAB flights to carry overflow passengers during a heavy Bolivian rainy season that has washed out roads throughout the country.

hkskyline

February 9th, 2008, 06:10 AM

Chile's LAN January passenger traffic up 15 percent

SANTIAGO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Chile's dominant airline LAN said on Friday its passenger traffic rose 15 percent in January compared with the same month last year.

The company said international passenger traffic rose 12.9 percent during the month while domestic traffic increased by 28.4 percent. International traffic accounts for about 85 percent of total passenger traffic.

LAN, which has affiliates in Ecuador, Peru and Argentina, accounts for more than half of Chile's international passenger traffic and nearly three-quarters of its domestic traffic.

Rodrigo_BSB

March 15th, 2008, 05:13 PM

JetBlue founder David Neeleman in talks about a new airline in Brazil

The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 03/14/2008 11:47:06 PM MDT

SAO PAULO, Brazil - The top executive of Brazil's Embraer confirmed Friday that his company is in talks to sell its E-190 passenger jets to JetBlue founder David Neeleman, who is deciding whether to start a new airline in Latin America's largest nation.

Embraer chief executive Federico Fleury Curado told reporters he has discussed possible sales of the jet seating 98 to 114 passengers with Neeleman, but no deal has been reached.

Curado declined to disclose more details at a news conference to discuss last year's financial results of Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA.

Neeleman, who grew up in Utah and helped to start Morris Air, declined to comment on discussions with Embraer.

But Neeleman in late February met with the head of Brazil's civil aviation authority to discuss the possibility of launching a new domestic airline, the authority confirmed. He did not make a formal proposal or say when the airline might take to the skies.

Neeleman was born in Brazil and is therefore a citizen - meaning he would not be affected by a law requiring that no more than 20 percent of Brazilian airlines be owned by foreign individuals or companies.

Source: Associated Press, via The Salt Lake Tribune
link: http://www.sltrib.com/ci_8580465?source=rss

:)

Rodrigo_BSB

March 15th, 2008, 09:37 PM

Embraer Moves and Improves

It's smooth sailing for Embraer, except for that pesky dollar that keeps losing value.

Embraer's fourth quarter sales jumped 72.7% to $1.9 billion from $1.1 billion reported in last year's corresponding period. The company's earnings also enjoyed a leap of 61.5% to $200.9 million, or $1.08 per share, from $124.2 million, or 67 cents per share. Embraer, based in Brazil, is the world’s fourth-largest airplane manufacturer.

The market's reaction was initially positive, but its shares fell throughout the day on the fall out from Bear Stearns' bailout. Still, the company was trading up 0.8%, or 35 cents, to $42.14, in late-afternoon trading, a relatively high measure for the day.

Stephen Trent, an analyst at Citigroup, thought the fourth-quarter results were very good. "Certainly if you look at the operational side they had an adjusted EBITDA margin that was better than our forecast, even though the (Brazilian) real strengthened against the dollar in the same timeframe. That demonstrates one of the benefits of having higher jet deliveries--it leads to higher fixed cost coverage."

Trent also had strong expectations for the upcoming year. In his view, 2007 was characterized by an effort to strengthen the company's throughput and sort its production and delivery mechanisms. In 2008, Trent believes the company's margins will begin to improve as it moves up the learning curve on some of their newer products.

Trent offered a note of caution on the weakening U.S. dollar though.

"If the Brazilian real strengthens widely against the dollar it creates some downside risk," Trent said. "But overall you'll get strong delivery providing higher fixed cost cover rate and you see in some cases an increase in the list of its current products which helps offset the risks of its currency problems."

Source: Forbes.com
link: http://www.forbes.com/manufacturing/2008/03/14/embraer-aerospace-brazil-markets-emerge-cx_cg_0314markets26.html?feed=rss_business_manufacturing

Rodrigo_BSB

May 3rd, 2008, 01:42 PM

TAM´s 1st Boeing 777-300ER on assembling line:

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/9883/phpfylahmyt7.jpg

Source: Airliners.net Forum (http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/3965849/)

:) :) :)

Chilenofuturista

May 3rd, 2008, 02:14 PM

Maybe a bit late, but so far it's not too late to put them up on ssc.

Press Releases
"The Best of Latin America 2008" Ranking, Latin Trade magazine:
LATIN TRADE RANKS LAN AS THE BEST AIRLINE OF LATIN AMERICA

Santiago, February 15th, 2008.

LAN was voted leading airline in the region, according to "The Best of Latin America 2008" ranking, published by the distinguished publication Latin Trade. The company ranked the highest from a total of 12 participating airlines.

This prestigious publication creates its annual ranking for business travel in Latin America based on readers' votes-most of them executives and frequent travelers-. Over 1,200 of the publication's readers provided their comments about airlines, airports, car rental companies, hotels and restaurants in the region.

LAN was awarded first place among participating airlines, obtaining the highest averaged points in the various categories including: Business Class, general onboard service, food and beverage, frequent flyer program and boarding-ticketing. LAN was awarded the highest points in all of the above mentioned categories.

At the same time, LAN's VIP Neruda lounge in the Santiago airport was voted Best in the Region, with the best ambiance, office supplies, accessibility , food & beverages and customer service.

Armando Valdivieso, CEO LAN's passenger division, stated: "We are proud of such an important award, which reflects the preferences of experienced travelers in this region. Their preference is the best encouragement to continue our daily efforts in bringing a service focused on excellence, consistency and distinction, with the goal of providing the best possible travel experience ."

Latin Trade - an international trade publication in Latin America - published its ranking for best in the region in its February edition. It has brought to over 350,000 readers, during 15 years, a global perspective of business development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The magazine is published in Spanish, Portuguese and English.
member of

WORK AT LAN Press Investor Relations Corporate Travel MUNDOLAN LANCARGO LANCourier

Source: http://plane.lan.com/about_us/noticias/2008_02_20-en-us.html

Chilenofuturista

May 3rd, 2008, 02:18 PM

For the second consecutive year, by Global Traveler magazine:

LAN NAMED BEST AIRLINE IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
Readers of influential Business Traveler magazine choose LAN's business class as best in South America.

Santiago, march 19, 2008.

For the second year in a row, LAN Airlines has won the GT Tested Award for Best Airline in Central/South America, presented by the prestigious American magazine Global Traveler. Readers of the publication, who count among the world’s most sophisticated and demanding travelers, chose the airline in a survey containing questions on 49 categories of business travel conducted between February and August 2007.

LAN also took top honors for Best Business Class to South America at the recent Reader’s Choice Awards ceremony held by Business Traveler magazine.

Global Traveler editor and executive director Francis X. Gallagher noted that more than 15,000 persons responded to the annual survey last year, reflecting the opinions of the most experienced travelers and leaders in business and luxury travel. “The invaluable results of our survey should greatly influence which carriers frequent business travelers choose to fly, where they decide to stay and which products they use,” he added.

The readers of Business Traveler were highly impressed by LAN’s Premium Business Class, praising the new service offered travelers on the company’s fleet of Boeing 767-300s. Eva Leonard, the magazine’s editor, extolled the foreign airlines for their success in the industry: “This year’s Best In Business Travel Awards survey, compiled solely from the responses of our readers, proves yet again foreign carriers are serving travelers’ needs and exceeding expectations”.

Armando Valdivieso, CEO for passenger division at LAN, stressed the significance of the two awards: “It’s a great honor for us to receive such recognition from experienced travelers worldwide. We have a commitment with each one of our customers to ensure we always offer the same level of excellence that sets LAN apart so that every flight with us is an enjoyable experience.”

Premium Business Class

In March 2006, LAN initiated an important process of change for its fleet of long-haul Boeing 767-300s with the implementation of the airline’s new Premium Business Class. It brings together the best of our First Class with the service levels of our Executive Class, including full-flat seats that recline 180 degrees to a totally horizontal position. This amenity, provided only by a select group of airlines, ensures passengers a restful sleep in maximum comfort and privacy. LAN is the lone carrier in the region to offer this product on its business class flights between South and North America.

On the company’s long-haul 767-300s that already have Premium Business Class installed, the range of in-flight entertainment choices is one of the most varied in the industry. LAN’s on-demand audio and video system with its individual seatback screens gives passengers a choice of more than 85 alternatives. These include 32 movies, both first-run and classics, plus 55 channels showing television series and documentaries that in 2008 featured the entire first season of Prison Break and six episodes of Dr. House.

As for music, 450 CDs cover every taste and style from rock to classical. Ten new disks are added every month, and passengers can create their own play list. There are also 14 individual games available, two of which offer multiplayer mode (chess and battleship) so that fellow-passengers can enjoy them together. These innovations will be implemented in all of LAN’s Boeing 767s during the second-half of 2008.

All of the above comes on top of LAN’s excellent personalized service, which the airline is constantly working to improve so that Premium Business will truly rank as one of the best business classes in the world.

The reconfiguration of our Boeing 767-300 fleet also includes improvements to our Economy Class that will make flying a more pleasurable experience. New seats come with larger individual video monitors and high-definition widescreen displays that offer the same entertainment content as in Premium Business. Passengers can make their on-demand audio and video programming choices directly and easily using the touchscreen function or the remote control.

Other features of the new seats are a more recline angle, a cushion that slides forward for greater comfort and an adjustable headrest, plus a cup holder and space to stow personal effects. Redesigned cabin interiors are also part of the upgrade, with new dishware, seat covers and other items such as blankets and pillows.

Sixteen of LAN’s Boeing 767-300 have already been fitted out with the new Premium Business and redesigned Economy classes, mainly on routes between South America, Mexico and the United States.

These initiatives represent an investment of approximately US$ 100 million in service improvements for our customers. This project is revolutionizing the concept of flying and positions LAN at the forefront of the industry, delivering a better product with the highest international standards of quality and excellence.

Source: http://plane.lan.com/about_us/noticias/2008_03_19-en-us.html

Chilenofuturista

May 3rd, 2008, 02:22 PM

LAN LEADS IN SIGNING ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENT IN LATIN AMERICA

The initiative created by IATA, titled "Green Aviation Partners," is the first of its kind worldwide. It was launched today at FIDAE and sponsored by important organizations related to private and commercial airlines.

Santiago, April 1, 2008.

The aviation industry is concerned with issues of climate change and environmental impact. Overall, it generates less than 2% of total CO 2 emissions in the world. This is equivalent to a sixth of all CO 2 produced by ground transportation.

The aviation industry is implementing diverse initiatives in order to substantially reduce CO 2 emissions, as Giovanni Bisignani, General Director of IATA -International Air Transportation Association- pointed out at IATA's annual summit, celebrated in 2007.

Leading the Latin American sector, LAN Airlines spearheaded the signing of the environmental agreement. The event took place today at FIDAE (International Air and Space Fair, according to its Spanish acronym), in Santiago. This initiative was launched by IATA and In addition to LAN, it has received the sponsorship of important industry organizations, such as the Latin American Civil Aviation Commission (Comisión Latinoamericana de Aviación Civil, CLAC, its Spanish acronym), the International Organization of Civil Aviation (Organización Internacional de Aviación Civil, OACI, its Spanish acronym), and the Latin American Air Transport Association (Asociación Latinoamericana de Transporte Aéreo, ALTA, its Spanish acronym).

LAN was the first company to sign this important agreement in Latin America, committing to contribute to the lowering of CO 2 emissions and to funneling all of its efforts toward environmental conservation.

Its commitment to this initiative, titled "Green Aviation Partners", includes 10 initiatives among which is the incorporation of environmental criteria in daily decision-making; use optimization of resources with available technology, focusing on the use of environmental management systems and eco-efficient programs; the promotion of research, development and implementation of innovative solutions in order to decrease the environmental footprint, among others.

The first step will be the donation of 500 trees, to be planted in Calan Hill in Santiago. This activity will be coordinated through the non-profit organization "Cultiva", which specializes in reforestation programs.

Funds, obtained from donations collected among those contributing in exchange for their "Green Aviation Partners" I.D., will be given to reforestation projects in the region.

LAN and its commitment to the environment

For several years now, LAN Airlines has been carrying out environmental conservation measures. One of the most important of these is its fleet renewal program. This program started in 2000 and, so far, 38 new Airbus A320s have been added to its fleet. These aircraft consume less fuel, enabling LAN to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 10%. Once the withdrawal of the Boeing 737-200s from the short haul fleet has been finalized, during the upcoming months, this reduction will reach 15%.

Currently, over 90% of LAN's national route flights take place in the new Airbus fleet. These airplanes have been designed with a new environmental management system (EMS), based on the ISO 1400 1 norm, which ensures that compliance with these strict standards will last throughout their useful life.

In addition, the acquisition of the new aircraft has decreased the level of noise, reducing acoustic pollution in a significant way. For example, the new fleet has managed to reduce surface noise impact near the landing strip at the airport of Santiago by over 85 decibels from 12 km2 to 3.1 km2, benefiting airport employees and the residents of the surrounding areas.

LAN Airlines is also working on its long haul fleet. By the end of this decade the Boeing 767-300s will have reduced their emissions by approximately 5%, thanks to the installation of winglets tip extensions on aircraft . This measure improves aerodynamic performance and consequently results in a decrease in fuel consumption and environmental impact.

A crucial step in LAN's commitment to the environment will be the addition of 32 Boeing 787 Dreamliner, representing an investment of US$3,500 million- the highest investment in the history of the company. These are expected to be incorporated between the years 2011 and 2016. This airplane model showcases the latest state of the art technology and is considered the new ecological airplane.

Moreover, due to the efforts of different departments in the company, several green measures have been implemented since 2005. These measures have brought operational changes and have also given way to a decrease in carbon dioxide emissions. Among these new measures are those relating to flight schedule optimization and pavement displacement, as well as management of in-flight weight, among others.

By 2011, all of these measures, in addition to the new short haul airplanes, will allow LAN to reduce its carbon emissions by 15% in about a decade.

Along the same lines, LAN has also started a program of donation and reconditioning of personal computers, as a way of contributing to recycling and supporting aid organizations in the region. During 2007 four hundred computers were given to different institutions in Chile and the rest of Latin America.

As to paper, over 97% of all of the company's passenger tickets are emitted electronically, through e-ticket. There is, as well, a program geared to reducing paper use in photocopiers and printers, and energy-saving initiatives in LAN's offices, all of which take place with the full support of LAN employees.

Source: http://plane.lan.com/about_us/noticias/2008_04_07-en-us.html

hkskyline

July 26th, 2008, 08:33 AM

Brazil lack airport facilities for 2014 World Cup: association
23 July 2008
Agence France Presse

Brazil lacks the necessary airport facilities to host the 500,000-plus tourists expected to head to the country for the 2014 World Cup of football, a grouping of private aircraft owners said Wednesday.

"Our airport infrastructure can't handle the 2014 World Cup," the vice president of the Brazilian General Aviation Association, Adalberto Febeliano, told a media conference.

He explained that the 500,000 figure was based on tourist projections for the 2010 World Cup to be held in South Africa. The number of football fans heading to Brazil in 2014 would likely be bigger, he said.

Each of the fans in Brazil will take between six and 14 flights to catch the games played in various cities, generating an extra four million passenger movements through airports during the tournament, he said.

That would effectively double the number of passenger movements normally recorded per month in Brazil, and demands a big investment in expanding airport facilities, Febeliano said.

"We have to find urgent solutions for the obstacles in the sector, such as the saturated Sao Paulo airports and the operation of other air terminals that exceed their capacity," he said.

hkskyline

August 14th, 2008, 05:12 AM

Guyana ends night flights as airport power fails
13 August 2008

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) - Guyana has been forced to cancel all night flights to its international airport after the runway lighting system collapsed a week before the South American country hosts a popular arts festival.

Officials are rushing to buy dozens of new runway light bulbs and other equipment to replace outdated power systems and navigational aids, airport CEO Ramesh Ghir said Wednesday.

Trinidad-based Caribbean Airlines has been forced to switch its late-night flights to New York and Miami to daybreak, he said.

Other airlines have made similar schedule changes as thousands of performers from as far as Morocco and Spain are expected to arrive next week for Carifesta, an arts festival that starts Aug. 22.

The complete shutdown occurred Monday night, just days after several flights were canceled because the backup system failed when severe thunderstorms knocked out power at Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

Ghir said he hopes the problem will be fixed by Thursday and he is seeking help from U.S. experts to prevent further outages.

The airport has experienced major power failures in recent years. It was built by the U.S. in the 1940s as a stopover base for troops heading to North Africa during World War II.

hkskyline

September 12th, 2008, 04:20 AM

Venezuela aviation agency rejects US warning that flights may not be safe
9 September 2008

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela's aviation agency is criticizing a U.S. travel advisory informing travelers that the U.S. can't vouch for the security of flights departing Venezuela.

The National Civil Aviation Institute insists Venezuela's airports are in full compliance with international standards set by the U.N. agency overseeing civil aviation.

Institute president Jose Luis Martinez Bravo denied on Tuesday that Venezuela's government has blocked U.S. officials from visiting its airports.

But he acknowledges disagreement with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration on its request to evaluate airport security. He says the U.S. agency only has the authority to evaluate its own airlines' operations in Venezuelan airports.

hkskyline

September 17th, 2008, 10:48 AM

Report: Brazilian air force jet, commercial airliner nearly collided over Amazon in June
16 September 2008

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) - A Brazilian air force plane and a commercial jet nearly collided as the airliner was landing in an Amazonian city in June, a local television station reported, the latest blow for a beleaguered air system.

The airliner belonged to Gol Linhas Aereas Intelligentes SA, the same company that saw a jet crash in the Amazon in 2006 after it collided with an Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet, killing all 154 people on board.

The "Fantastico" show on the Globo television network reported Sunday that the Boeing 737 belonging to Gol nearly collided with the propeller-driven air force plane as the airliner tried landing in Rio Branco, a city in the Amazonian state of Acre.

The Brazilian air force confirmed the incident in a statement and said an investigation faulted the air traffic controller who was guiding the air force plane and the airliner. It wasn't clear why the incident was not made public earlier.

"The Gol passed above us here, it almost hit us," an unidentified voice in the air force plane said on audio played on Fantastico.

The air force statement said there was no connection between the most recent incident and the 2006 Gol airliner crash in Mato Grosso, another Amazonian state. An investigation continues into that crash.

In a statement, Gol said its pilots followed all safety regulations and did nothing wrong in the most recent incident.

Brazil has been plagued by air traffic woes in the past few years.

In July 2007, a TAM Linhas Aereas Airbus A320 skid off a runway while landing in a rainstorm in Sao Paulo, killing all 187 people on board and 12 on ground.

hkskyline

November 23rd, 2008, 05:43 AM

Argentina moves to nationalize two airlines
21 November 2008
Agence France Presse

Argentina on Thursday took steps to nationalize two airlines owned by the Spanish group Marsans, a day after it nationalized 10 private pension funds, in its controversial policy drive of repurchasing key national assets.

A federal judge Thursday gave the government of President Cristina Kirchner control of management at Aerolineas Argentinas (AA) and Austral, which Transportation Minister Ricardo Jaime argued was necessary to guarantee airline service to the public.

Buyout talks between Marsans and the government recently broke down over a price squabble, and the ruling party in Congress will present a bill next week to nationalize the two airlines, which got the green light on Tuesday from a bi-chamber committee.

Marsans has asked for intervention by the Spanish government, which officials in Madrid told AFP would "protect the interests of its companies."

"The light has turned red for Spanish investments in Argentina," said AA and Austral deputy manager Jorge Molina. "We're approaching judicial uncertainty in this country."

The move on AA and Austral follows Thursday's controversial nationalization by Kirchner of 26 billion dollars in private pension funds run by 10 banks.

The aim of the nationalization, the government said, was to protect pensioners from the global financial crisis, while the opposition believes the funds will be used to prevent a loan default on Argentina's national debt of some 150 billion dollars.

Either way, the government is seen as pursuing the nationalization trend begun under Kirchner's predecessor and husband, Nestor Kirchner, who in his 2003-2007 mandate nationalized the railroads, waterworks and communications companies.

The Kirchners, together, are undoing the vast privatization policies that marked the tempestuous 1989-1999 presidency of Carlos Menem, who is currently under investigation for alleged graft, along with his economy minister Domingo Cavallo.

Liberal and right-wing opposition parties and business leaders have warned Kirchner's nationalization drive will lead to Argentina's isolation on the international scene, scare off investors and cause mistrust of the justice system.

"The nationalization of the pension system will trigger one of the worst crisis in our history," predicted liberal economist and former presidential candidate Ricardo Lopez Murphy, who also tied the policy to public debt servicing payments due next year.

For other analysts, the standoff with Marsens bodes ill for Argentina's close relations with its best European ally, Spain.

And yet for other political analysts like Rosendo Fraga, the nationalization schemes of this week point to a more insidious direction. Kirchner is maneuvering Argentina to "bring it closer" to Chavez's socialist revolution in Venezuela, he said.

hkskyline

November 25th, 2008, 05:15 PM

Spanish owner of Argentina's largest airline says may sue in nationalization spat
25 November 2008

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - The Spanish owner of Argentina's largest airline says it will sue if the Argentine government expropriates the carrier before reaching an agreement on its value.

Vicente Munoz is the director of Madrid-based Grupo Marsans, which controls Aerolineas Argentinas and its subsidiary Austral.

He told Buenos Aires-based Mitre radio Tuesday that the possible expropriation being debated in congress would be an illegal "confiscation."

Munoz says the government appears to be imposing a low valuation on the airline and is backing away from a deal to let an independent party assess the value.

He says Marsans will sue Argentina in an international court if the government doesn't pay what the air carrier is worth.

hkskyline

December 7th, 2008, 04:55 PM

Bolivian state airline set for takeoff next year

LA PAZ, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Bolivia will launch a new state airline in January, filling a gap left by last year's collapse of its privatized flag carrier as President Evo Morales steps up his control of the economy.

The leftist Morales has nationalized energy and mining firms since becoming Bolivia's first Indian president in 2006, and his government also plans state-run cement and paper companies.

The nascent airline, called Boliviana de Aviacion, or BoA, will take delivery of its first two aircraft by the end of 2008, General Manager Ronald Casso told Reuters on Friday, adding that another three would soon be leased.

"The aim is to build a serious airline ... that's the starting point of BoA," Casso told Reuters in a phone interview.

He said BoA would initially only cover domestic routes in the poor South American country, but the company is already considering international flights in the medium term.

Morales announced the plan to create a new state-run carrier just over a year ago and pledged to invest some $15 million to get it up and running.

BoA will fill a void left by the collapse of Lloyd Aereo Boliviano, the former state-run airline that was privatized in the late 1990s.

Lloyd was forced to suspend operations in early 2007 due to serious financial difficulties and Bolivia's transport regulator barred the airline from flying again after hundreds of passengers were stranded by canceled flights.

Casso said it was better for the state to start anew than try to rescue Lloyd.

"Very soon it became clear that a big state investment couldn't be justified to renationalize an airline laden with debts and obsolete aircraft. It didn't make sense," he said.

BoA's chief competitor will be Aerosur, which has 16 aircraft and flies within Bolivia as well as to Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, Paraguay, Peru, Spain and United States. Aerosur is a private company headquartered in the eastern city of Santa Cruz.

In neighboring Argentina this week, the lower house of Congress backed a government bill to seize the country's biggest airline, Aerolineas Argentinas, from its Spanish owners.

Morales' main regional ally, Venezuela's fiery left-wing leader Hugo Chavez, also launched a state-run airline in 2004, Conviasa, which flies to Iran and Syria.

hkskyline

December 10th, 2008, 04:37 PM

Chile's LAN Nov passenger traffic up 9.9 percent

SANTIAGO, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Chile's dominant airline LAN said on Wednesday its passenger traffic rose 9.9 percent in November compared with the same month last year.

The company said international passenger traffic rose 2.7 percent during the month while domestic traffic in Chile increased by 28.3 percent. International traffic accounted for about 72 percent of total passenger traffic.

LAN, which has affiliates in Ecuador, Peru and Argentina, accounts for more than half of Chile's international passenger traffic and nearly three-quarters of its domestic traffic.

santobonao

December 12th, 2008, 09:48 AM

EL AL will fly soon to Sao Paulo from Tel Aviv.

hkskyline

December 19th, 2008, 07:26 AM

Chile LAN enters Ecuador domestic flights market

QUITO, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Chile's dominant airline LAN was granted a two-year concession to operate domestic flights in Ecuador, a top aviation official said on Thursday.

The airline's Ecuadorean unit will be allowed to fly local routes to major cities like Guayaquil, Quito and Cuenca. The company will also operate flights to top tourist destination the Galapagos islands.

"The concession is for two years," Guillermo Bernal, head of the national aviation council, told Reuters. "We want healthy competition in the local industry."

Bernal said he didn't know how much the company plans to invest in the Andean country, but added that LAN had expected its participation would boost the nation air traffic by more than 20 percent. The South American airliner has said is reviewing its investment plans due to the global economy slowdown.

Ecuador's busiest route between the cities of Quito and Guayaquil registered more than half a million passengers in 2006, according to aviation authority data.

Local carriers opposed LAN's application to operate domestic flights, arguing unfair competition with the major airline, one of the region's largest air carriers.

hkskyline

December 27th, 2008, 06:10 PM

Brazil's Aviation Authority Calls In Airline GOL Over Delays
26 December 2008

SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--Brazilian aviation authorities said Friday they called in executives of local low cost airline GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes (GOL), or GOL, to discuss the large number of delayed flights reported in the past week.

GOL registered delays in over 50% of its flights between Dec. 20 and Dec. 23, according to Brazilian airport authority, or Infraero, data.

The delays were caused by insufficient deployment of ground staff, according to Infraero, leading Defense Minister Nelson Jobim to criticize the operator for reducing staff.

However, GOL denied that a lack of ground staff was at the root of the problem.

In a statement Tuesday it said: "the number of employees working throughout the delays were consistent with the company's operational needs."

It added that the isolated problems it experienced on Dec. 20 and 21 are now "completely resolved."

The volume of delays across the whole civil aviation system were much reduced on Dec. 24 and 25 and early Friday, Infraero said.

The debacle brought back unpleasant memories of chaos seen at Brazilian airports in 2006 when overbooking and a creaking infrastructure led to mass cancellations and thousands of passengers stranded at airports.

GOL shares were 0.2% lower at 10.35 Brazilian reals ($4.35) in early afternoon trading on the Brazilian Stock Exchange, or Bovespa. The benchmark Ibovespa index was 1.4% higher.

hkskyline

January 10th, 2009, 07:05 AM

Chile LAN's Dec passenger traffic up 10.7 percent

SANTIAGO, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Chile's dominant airline, LAN , said on Friday its passenger traffic rose 10.7 percent in December from a year earlier, with passenger traffic up 12.3 percent for all of 2008.

The company said international passenger traffic rose 3.4 percent during December, while domestic traffic in Chile, Argentina and Peru increased 30.5 percent. International traffic accounted for about 68 percent of total passenger traffic.

Domestic traffic rose 30.5 percent in 2008 from 2007, while international traffic increased 6.6 percent.

The load factor for December fell 1.3 percentage points to 74.7 percent, while capacity grew 12.6 percent. The load factor for full-year 2008 rose 0.6 percentage points to 76.6 percent.

LAN, which has affiliates in Ecuador, Peru and Argentina, accounts for more than half of Chile's international passenger traffic and nearly three-quarters of its domestic traffic.

One of Latin America's largest carriers, LAN saw its 9-month net profit rise 5.4 percent to $218.64 million on revenue of $3.355 billion for the January-September period in 2008.

hkskyline

January 28th, 2009, 06:09 AM

LAN Chile announces 8.9 percent increase in 2008 earnings, citing lower fuel costs
27 January 2009

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - Chile's principal airline has announced an 8.9 percent increase in earnings for 2008, citing lower fuel costs.

LAN Chile says it earned $335.7 million last year, compared to $308 million in 2007.

The company also notes that its fourth-quarter earnings for 2008 rose 16.1 percent to $117.1 million, compared to $100.8 million in the same period of 2007.

LAN Chile says the quarterly earnings reflect the company's decision to set aside $25 million in anticipation of a fine on its affiliate LAN Cargo SA for anticompetitive business practices.

The company says it reached an agreement last week to pay a fine of $88 million.

The airline issued its earnings statement on Tuesday. LAN Chile is one of various affiliates of LAN Airlines SA, also based in Santiago.

hkskyline

July 10th, 2009, 07:40 PM

Chile's LAN June passenger traffic up 9.3 percent

SANTIAGO, July 8 (Reuters) - Chile's dominant airline LAN said on Wednesday its passenger traffic rose 9.3 percent in June compared with a year earlier, while cargo traffic fell by 16.2 percent as global crisis drags on Latin American trade.

International passenger traffic rose 3.7 percent during the month, compared with the year-ago month.

Domestic passenger traffic in Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, increased 25.9 percent.

LAN accounts for more than one half of Chile's international passenger traffic and nearly three quarters of its domestic traffic.

nick03

July 26th, 2009, 09:57 PM

Avianca and SAM fusion will be defined this week, Efromovich goes for VarigLog

Business of carriage of passengers, cargo and mail from the Colombian-Brazilian businessman German Efromovich, controller of the group Synergy and Avianca, take flight.

In 2008, he acquired the Colombian-Dutch airline Tampa Cargo to expand the services of mail and cargo holds because of the fleet of Avianca and other airlines did not provide sufficient capacity.

Moreover, because it considers the key chain in the aviation business, is also owner of the land transport company Transmeta.

Now Efromovich signed an option that will bear fruit if given the option to take control of VarigLog, the company of former flagship airline Varig and that Brazil is in a recovery process of their judicial duties since March this year.

Besides Tampa Cargo and Avianca, Efromovich owns companies ocean, in Brazil; Helicol and SAM in Colombia, VIP in Ecuador, and apparently has another option to purchase 80 percent of the Ecuadorian Aerogal too.

Reveals the magazine Exame Portal 'in Brazil, Ocean VariLog will manage until the resolution of pending court cases involving partners, and invest $ 30 million to solve the financial problems of short-term the company.

In addition, the company will use Efromovich systems and voice their airlines to recover the cargo airline.

VarigLog faced problems since 2007 when the U.S. fund Matlin Patterson, controlled by the Chinese Lap Chan, entered into disputes with Brazilian Marco Antonio Audi and Marcos Haftel.

Under Brazilian law, a foreigner can not have more than 20 percent of a local airline.

However, owners of VarigLog had allegedly evaded the rule and in practice the EU fund controlled. And two years ago to try to fix the mess, and Audi Haftel replied that the authorities could take control of VariLog, but without fresh capital.

However, in May this year the problems between the partners were aggravated because Chan Lup, a nationalized Brazilian citizen china and sister Lap Chan, managed to win a case before the Court of Justice of Sao Paulo to gain control of VariLog.

So before the legal confrontation between Chan and Haftel Audi, the airline was faced with difficulties in obtaining financing and part of their earnings are frozen by Brazilian courts.

VarigLog operates five aircraft and has an annual turnover of approximately $ 265 million.

Where the judicial process of recovery to get to revive VariLog, Efromovich must exercise the right to purchase under the contract. The main interest of the employer who has the two nationalities seem to be the cellars and areas that the airline cargo holds at some airports in the neighboring country.

Any part of the plan Efromovich be one of the great players of the business aviation in Latin America and operationally integrate their businesses.

This plan will have new episodes this year when Ocean Air renamed Avianca Brazil Avianca Ecuador and VIP.

However, as VIP Ocean retain its name to the authorities of their countries and common processes and integrate only the traditional red and white aircraft to reduce costs and expand services.

Efromovich with the idea of this plan is that the commercial management of its airline passenger and cargo remains under the umbrella of Avianca, ie, without merging, Ocean, and even VIP Aerogal, which has signed an agreement code sharing, lose their legal independence join synergies among themselves and with Avianca, Tampa Cargo and Helicol.

Otherwise occur with the Colombian SAM airline, to be legally acquired by Avianca, in a decision to be taken during the special meetings of shareholders of those airlines that were announced this week in Medellin and Barranquilla.

With information Portafolio.com.co

gnzlnho

June 9th, 2010, 06:55 PM

Aerolíneas Argentinas
Aerolíneas Argentinas is the largest domestic and international airline in Argentina and serves as Argentina's flag carrier. The airline, based in Buenos Aires, operates from hubs at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery for domestic and regional flights and Ministro Pistarini International Airport for the rest of international services.

Austral Líneas Aéreas
Austral Líneas Aereas is an airline based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the sister company of Aerolíneas Argentinas and is the second largest domestic scheduled airline in Argentina. Its main base is Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, Buenos Aires

Current international destinations [15/Nov/10]
Asunción, Paraguay
Auckland, New Zealand
Barcelona, Spain
Bogotá, Colombia
Caracas, Venezuela
Florianópolis, Brazil [seasonal]
Lima, Perú
Madrid, Spain
México DF, México
Miami, USA
Montevideo, Uruguay
Porto Alegre, Brazil
Porto Seguro, Brazil [seasonal]
Punta Cana, Dominican R [seasonal]
Punta del Este, Uruguay
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Rome, Italy
Salvador, Brazil
Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Santiago, Chile
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Sydney, Australia

Future destinations
Brasilia, Brazil
London, England
New York, USA

Current fleet
05 E190 [15 orders]
17 B737-500
12 B737-700
07 MD-88
09 MD-83
02 MD-81
04 A340-200
03 A340-300
00 A340-600 [4 orders]
03 B747-400
Total: 81 aircrafts [including 19 orders]

New Aerolíneas Argentinas livery:
http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/7816/montajeaerolineas.jpg

www.aerolineas.com

Ian

June 9th, 2010, 09:53 PM

:puke:

Luigini

June 10th, 2010, 01:46 AM

a mi me gusta, se mira bien elegante, original y moderno que el que usa actualmente!, me enamore de ese livery!

gnzlnho

June 10th, 2010, 01:51 AM

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/1493/66465182.jpg

http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/5909/32473133979909950488133.jpg

http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/6683/32473133990433282769133.jpg
http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/6113/32473133979886617157133.jpg
http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/9998/32473133979873283825133.jpg
http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/1869/32473133979896617156133.jpg

http://img813.imageshack.us/img813/4076/32473133979913283821133.jpg

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/573/32473133979906617155133.jpg

alejandro DS

June 10th, 2010, 02:45 AM

Magnifico le va al Airbus A340!!!... realmente genial

FM 2258

June 10th, 2010, 06:35 AM

At first glance I hated it, but in less than 10 seconds I loved it. No stupid wavy shit, no Eurowhite, just a clean, elegant, unique design. :cheers:

brain damage

June 12th, 2010, 02:34 AM

Yummy :cheers:

Bonaerense24

June 14th, 2010, 02:01 AM

I like both of them

Shezan

June 14th, 2010, 02:09 AM

like the fuselage scheme, not at all the tail one..

gnzlnho

June 16th, 2010, 03:13 AM

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/2053/30483135196983162114133.jpg

gnzlnho

June 16th, 2010, 04:14 AM

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/198/routemapx.jpg

alejandro DS

June 16th, 2010, 05:31 PM

I really like the AU tail livery!!!

patriauy

June 19th, 2010, 06:10 PM

Muy bueno este livery, creo que de los que ha tenido Aerolineas el mejor.

Luigini

June 19th, 2010, 07:14 PM

gnzlnho

June 21st, 2010, 12:12 AM

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/9629/lvcdy1023688e.jpg

Luigini

June 21st, 2010, 01:05 AM

esa franja roja no me convence mucho.

gnzlnho

June 21st, 2010, 01:11 AM

^^ Es sólo para los aviones de Austral (hermana de Aerolíneas), ya que hace muchos años su livery era de ese color. De todas formas, el livery de AR es gris en vez de rojo ;)

Luigini

June 21st, 2010, 01:39 AM

si, el de Aerolineas esta excelente, pero al de Austral esa franja no se... aunque viendola bien parecia que estas viendo a un tiburon desde la parte de abajo con la boca semi abierta :lol::lol:

gnzlnho

June 28th, 2010, 04:46 AM

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/7611/arsudam.gif

http://img806.imageshack.us/img806/9329/arrestomundo.gif

Arielo

July 2nd, 2010, 06:02 AM

Me gusta mucho el de Aerolíneas, es raro verlo así pero te termina gustando.

Luigini

July 3rd, 2010, 12:52 AM

lo mismo que paso con Taca y Mexicana, aunque el de Mexicana todavia no me convence.

gnzlnho

July 6th, 2010, 06:57 PM

AUSTRAL

fuente: http://www.aeroworldnews.com.br/galeria.php?inicio=1512&codgrupo=2

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/7481/galeria21278357370.jpg (http://img824.imageshack.us/i/galeria21278357370.jpg/)

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/8484/galeria21278376881.jpg (http://img688.imageshack.us/i/galeria21278376881.jpg/)

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/5978/galeria21278357279.jpg (http://img340.imageshack.us/i/galeria21278357279.jpg/)

me engañaron las fotos que vimos antes, no crei que fuese tan celeste el color. Me parece que es muy parecido al de KLM, en los aviones grandes de Aerolineas va a quedar muy bien creo.
aloha!

alejandro DS

July 6th, 2010, 08:33 PM

Me parece hermoso a la luz del Sol... es cierto, se parece a KLM!

Si a KL le queda bien porqué no a AU!?

Luigini

July 6th, 2010, 08:44 PM

yo no le encuentro parecido a KLM....

alejandro DS

July 7th, 2010, 05:45 AM

Se qué no tiene un parecido absoluto a KL pero me refería al casi mismo esquema en la parte superior del fuselaje, en todo caso también se asemeja al de KE...

Luigini

July 7th, 2010, 04:19 PM

ahhh bueno alli pues si jejejeje

ruifo

August 14th, 2010, 12:09 AM

Complete news here:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=61945399#post61945399

LAN | TAM to Combine

LAN and TAM announce Intention to Combine

New Latin American Airline Group Would Be Among The Leading Airlines In The World

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xBJLaUGunHk/S6vhNESgqEI/AAAAAAAADEI/Fdt9vcdYfzA/s1600/21.jpg

http://www.latamairlines.com/template/lantam-images/banner-en.jpg

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=61945399#post61945399

GTR66

August 14th, 2010, 03:08 AM

so what is the new logo and name going to be? Is it going to take as long as the unite/continental merger? give us some details please.

cuaticocl

August 14th, 2010, 04:07 AM

this fusion is like Air France - KLM

Both companies maintain their corporate image

http://www.latamairlines.com

ruifo

August 14th, 2010, 01:55 PM

Details are here:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=61945399#post61945399

ruifo

August 14th, 2010, 02:18 PM

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1320658620100813

UPDATE 2-LAN-TAM merger would create new LatAm airline giant

Fri Aug 13, 2010 4:42pm EDT

* Brazil's TAM, Chile's LAN unveil plans to merge

* Deal would create biggest airline in Latin America (Adds details of transaction, updates share prices)

Aug 13 (Reuters) - Brazil's largest airline TAM Linhas Aereas (TAMM4.SA)(TAM.N) plans to merge with Chilean rival LAN LAN.SN(LFL.N), a deal that would create the biggest carrier in Latin America.

The merger would create a new regional powerhouse to help meet booming demand for air travel in Latin America. The combined company would fly to 115 destinations in 23 countries and employ some 40,000 workers, TAM said.

TAM said in a regulatory filing on Friday the new entity, to be named Latam Airlines Group, would be created via an all-stock transaction that may include a share swap. The financial terms were not disclosed.

LAN also confirmed the agreement, which it said was non-binding.

LAN's Chief Executive Enrique Cueto will be the CEO of Latam Airlines, while TAM's deputy chairman Mauricio Rolim will be the chairman of the combined company. The airlines' brands will be kept separate, the statement said.

As part of the agreement, TAM said its shareholders will receive 0.9 shares of LAN for every TAM share in the form of Brazilian depositary receipts. TAM said it would then delist its shares in Sao Paulo and in New York.

TAM's controlling shareholders, Tam Empreendimentos e Participacoes, will retain control of the Brazilian company with an 80 percent voting stake and will also own an undisclosed stake in LAN, the filing said.

LAN's controlling shareholders, Costa Verde Aeronautica SA and Inversiones Mineras del Cantabrico will also retain control of the Chilean airline, TAM said.

TAM shares rose 27.6 percent to close at 36.20 reais in Sao Paulo. LAN rose 7.7 percent to 13,900 Chilean pesos in Santiago.

LAN is a member of the Oneworld alliance of airlines, which also has American Airlines (AMR.N), Mexicana and British Airways among its members. TAM is a member of Star Alliance. (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Elzio Barreto, Writing by Brian Winter. Editing by Robert MacMillan)

Sky Harbor

August 14th, 2010, 04:18 PM

A big question on A.Net right now is what airline alliance the combined LAN/TAM (LATAM) would join. Hmmm...

ruifo

August 14th, 2010, 04:50 PM

I believe Star Alliance is the best option. Don't you?

way of thinking

August 14th, 2010, 05:17 PM

I think the probability speaks for Oneworld. The reason why? In this merger LAN seems to be the partner with more weight. Look at the quotations:

The all-stock transaction would consolidate the economic interests of LAN and TAM under a single parent entity while satisfying the foreign ownership and control requirements of each country where they operate. In connection with the transaction, LAN Airlines S.A. would be renamed LATAM Airlines Group S.A. (LATAM) and would serve as a parent company that will align activities for all group holdings. TAM shareholders would be offered 0.90 shares of common stock of LATAM for each share of TAM.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lan-and-tam-announce-intention-to-combine-100648534.html

and

Shareholders in Santiago-based Lan will own 70 percent of the combined company and investors in Sao Paulo-based Tam the rest under terms of a non-binding agreement, Lan’s Chief Financial Officer Alejandro de la Fuente said in a telephone interview yesterday.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-14/brazil-s-tam-chile-s-lan-airlines-sign-agreement-on-merger-filing-shows.html

Sky Harbor

August 14th, 2010, 06:01 PM

I believe Star Alliance is the best option. Don't you?

Sorry, but I'm a SkyTeam person. I'd really want LA/JJ to go to SkyTeam should Star get AV/TA, especially since SkyTeam is weak in South America.

However, should I take it in objectively, my best bet lies in Star. Oneworld though will not give up LA/JJ without a fight.

way of thinking

August 14th, 2010, 07:18 PM

LAN and TAM have not yet resolved alliance issue, so we can go on with speculations

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/08/14/346157/lan-and-tam-have-not-yet-resolved-alliance-issue.html

ruifo

August 17th, 2010, 02:44 PM

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/travel-boost-for-south-america-as-airlines-agree-to-merge-2054612.html

Travel boost for South America as airlines agree to merge

Relaxnews

Tuesday, 17 August 2010

http://www.independent.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00433/handshake_5251d1415_433603t.jpg

Brazilian airline TAM is to merge with Chilean rival LAN, the companies announced last week, creating a Latin American "supercarrier" that could be good news for travelers.

If approved, the deal will create an airline that will strengthen transport links between Latin America and the rest of the world, flying to over 115 destinations in 23 countries.

In their joint announcement, the airlines said that their primary growth areas included routes between Brazil and Europe/Africa, as well as routes between Lima and North and Central America, pointing out that jointly the carriers will be able to offer destinations neither could have managed alone.

The deal is set to make the joint airline the second biggest carrier between North America and South America, creating considerable price competition with American Airlines, which currently holds top spot.

In between South America and Europe, the combined airline would be the fourth largest, behind British Airways/Iberia, Air France/KLM and Portuguese carrier TAP.

But it's not all good news - as the airlines are currently members of competing airline alliances (LAN is a member of oneworld, while TAM is part of Star Alliance), the likelihood seems to be that one of the alliances will be dropped, potentially damaging links into the region for the passengers of other member airlines of that alliance.

Airline analyst the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation said that the previous consolidation seen from airlines such as Air France/KLM, Lufthansa and British Airways/Iberia will "pale in comparison to the effect that this group will have on its home turf."

http://www.latamairlines.com

http://www.centreforaviation.com

gnzlnho

September 23rd, 2010, 03:38 AM

Aerolíneas Argentinas Said to Join SkyTeam Alliance

By Mary Jane Credeur, Rodrigo Orihuela and Steve Rothwell - Sep 21, 2010PrintShare Email
(Adds alliance plans for Lan, Tam in fifth paragraph.)

Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Aerolineas Argentinas SA, South America’s fifth-biggest airline, will join the SkyTeam alliance led by Delta Air Lines Inc. and Air France-KLM Group, according to two people with knowledge of the agreement.

The state-owned company will sign an accord to join SkyTeam as soon as the final week of October, said one of the people, who declined to be identified because the decision hasn’t been made public.

Aerolineas President Mariano Recalde said discussions had been held, though he wouldn’t say whether an agreement was reached. “I can only confirm” there have been talks with SkyTeam, he said in a phone interview from Buenos Aires, where the airline is based.

Adding Aerolineas would help SkyTeam vie with the Oneworld group, whose Lan Airlines SA of Chile is buying Brazil’s Tam SA, a member of the Star alliance. Before Tam, the Star alliance hadn’t had a local member since Brazil’s bankruptcy-threatened Varig was expelled in 2007.

Lan and Tam, which would be called Latam Airlines Group upon completion of their merger, haven’t decided to join Oneworld, which is led by AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, or Star, which is anchored by UAL Corp.’s United Airlines. The new carrier would dominate long-haul travel in South America.

Delta declined to comment on any moves related to possible alliance changes, spokesman Trebor Banstetter said. SkyTeam’s Amsterdam-based spokeswoman, Marisca Kensenhuis, said the group doesn’t discuss new members until an agreement is signed.

Government Takeover

The Argentine government took over Aerolineas Argentinas from Spain’s Grupo Marsans in 2009. The company and sister carrier Austral operate domestic routes and international flights to cities including Sao Paulo, Miami, Paris, Madrid and Sydney.

Aerolineas Argentinas operates a mix of Airbus SAS and Boeing Co. jetliners, while the Austral unit has begun taking delivery of the first of 20 Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA E-190 planes to replace Boeing MD-80s.

The company adopted a new livery this year and switched more flights to Aeroparque Jorge Newberry, an airport that’s closest to the center of Buenos Aires.

Tam is South America’s biggest carrier by passengers, according to International Air Transport Association data, moving 29 million in 2009. Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA, also based in Brazil, ranks second with almost 28 million passengers, Lan is third with 15 million and Colombia’s Aerovias del Continente Americano SA, or Avianca, is fourth at 9 million.

British Airways Plc, a leading carrier in Oneworld, said today that it’s starting a daily direct service to Buenos Aires from London in March, shortening travel times on a route that now includes a change of planes in Sao Paulo.

--Editors: Chris Jasper, Ed Dufner

http://sfgate.bloomberg.com/SFChronicle/Story?docId=1376-L93O4K0D9L3501-5G27GSOURIDEG9MEP89QHHVQIG

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-09-21/aerolineas-argentinas-said-to-join-skyteam-alliance.html

gnzlnho

September 27th, 2010, 11:51 PM

http://www.globalspotter.net/App_Images/2010_9/00000003058094186354683.jpg

http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/6718/1785088.jpg (http://img826.imageshack.us/i/1785088.jpg/)

http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/2013/arrutaseze.jpg (http://img836.imageshack.us/i/arrutaseze.jpg/)

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/770/armapaep.jpg (http://img175.imageshack.us/i/armapaep.jpg/)

gnzlnho

September 27th, 2010, 11:55 PM

gnzlnho

September 27th, 2010, 11:56 PM

A340 flyes to:

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/2118/ara346.jpg

http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/6591/mapx.gif

Auckland X4
Sydney X4
Madrid X7
Miami X7
Caracas X4
Barcelona X4
Bogotá X3
Rome X3

Punta Cana [seasonal]

Mexico City X4 [3 March]
London [coming soon]
New York [coming soon]

gnzlnho

September 27th, 2010, 11:58 PM

http://www.globalspotter.net/App_Images/2010_7/00000003019429552183722.jpg

gnzlnho

September 28th, 2010, 12:00 AM

Aerolíneas negotiates with Qatar Airways to buy 4 A340-600: 3 of them had entry on service on 2006 and the other on 2007

gnzlnho

September 28th, 2010, 12:04 AM

Current fleet
A340-200 x4
A340-300 x3
A340-600 x0 [4 orders]
B737-500 x17
B737-700 x12
B737-800 x0 [6 orders]
B747-400 x3
E190 x3 [17 orders]
MD-81 x1
MD-83 x13
MD-88 x8

Total: 64 aircrafts [+ 27 orders]

Luigini

September 28th, 2010, 12:04 AM

A340 flyes to:

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/2118/ara346.jpg

http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/6591/mapx.gif

Auckland X4
Sydney X4
Madrid X7
Miami X7
Caracas X4
Barcelona X4
Bogotá X3
Rome X3

Mexico City X7 [11 december]
London [coming soon]
New York [coming soon]

Aerolineas no vuela a Punta Cana....

gnzlnho

September 28th, 2010, 12:05 AM

Aerolineas no vuela a Punta Cana....

Seasonal

gnzlnho

September 29th, 2010, 10:36 PM

Aerolíneas Argentinas & Austral

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/1474/50174942.jpg

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/7545/72285037.jpg

http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/2400/80646199.jpg

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/9994/56061518.jpg

gnzlnho

October 6th, 2010, 08:05 PM

Aerolíneas and Sky Team

With Aeroflot

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/9559/aeroflot.gif

With China Airlines

http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/6185/chinaairlines.gif

With China Southern

http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/7941/chinasouthern.gif

With Czech Airlines

http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/1634/czechairlines.gif

With Delta
[excludes connections in Atlanta]

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/7048/deltaw.gif
** No other alternative routes to Atlanta appear as direct flight between this city and Buenos Aires exist

With Korean Air

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/3846/korenair.gif

Wit Tarom

http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/3183/tarom.gif

With Vietnam Airlines

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/2032/vietnamairlines.gif

Buenos Aires to Sky Team Hubs
[includes Aerolíneas, Aeroméxico, Air Europa, Air France, Alitalia and Delta]

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/1392/hubs.gif

gnzlnho

October 6th, 2010, 08:15 PM

diablo234

October 9th, 2010, 01:53 AM

I'm surprised this has not occurred sooner.

Skyteam was lacking a huge presence in Latin America outside of Aeromexico with Copa Airlines leaving the alliance.

CPHbane

October 10th, 2010, 04:43 AM

Actually i thought Gol is closer to ST ........

gnzlnho

November 16th, 2010, 02:38 AM

Buenos Aires - México DF begins the 3 of March

Argentina's national carrier will resume flight between Buenos Aires and Mexico's capital from the 3 of March. Flights will be operated with A340-200 4 times a week, with an arrangement with Aeromexico as Aerolíneas will join SkyTeam in 2012. They will have combined 2 daily flights between this two cities from March of 2010. Tickets are already in sale at www.aerolineas.com

gnzlnho

November 16th, 2010, 02:41 AM

http://www.aeropuertosarg.com.ar/uploads/arskyteam.jpg

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/1673/66276438731988314658818.jpg

coming soon... in 2012

gnzlnho

November 20th, 2010, 03:48 AM

3 Airbus 340 and 10 B737 for Aerolíneas

The argentine carrier will rent 3 ex-Gulf Air A340-300 which will arrive in January of 2011 and 10 B737-700 ex-Virgin Blue (4 in 2011 and 6 in 2012)

juzzy

November 20th, 2010, 10:27 AM

according to the website. Cape Town was supposed to be a new route starting?

gnzlnho

November 20th, 2010, 01:42 PM

According to which web site?

It was supposed but there are other more important destinations to go now like:

London, New York and more frecuences to Rome, Madrid and Barcelona

juzzy

November 21st, 2010, 11:36 PM

i just checked the new website now and i see they have removed Cape Town as a forthcoming route. would have been great though to have them here in SA

gnzlnho

November 25th, 2010, 06:11 PM

in which part of the web site it said Cape Town as a future destinations?

hkskyline

November 29th, 2010, 07:48 PM

Chile LAN Completes Purchase Of Colombian Carrier Aires
27 November 2010

SANTIAGO -(Dow Jones)- Chilean flagship carrier LAN Airlines (LFL, LAN.SN) paid $12.0 million for a 98.9% indirect stake in Aires, Colombia's second largest airline, LAN said Friday.

Earlier this week, LAN's chief financial officer said the airline will likely purchase between 15 and 20 Airbus 320-family aircraft for its expansion in Colombia.

LAN, which announced its intention to purchase Aires in late October, assumed approximately $100 million in liabilities, including $18 million in bank debt, through the transaction, LAN said.

Aires has a 22% market share in Colombia, with 22 domestic routes and 3 international destinations. The Colombian carrier, a closely held low-cost airline, has 24 planes, including nine Boeing Co. (BA) B737-700s.

Earlier this year, LAN inked an agreement with airline Aeroasis to provide the Colombian carrier with technical support in acquiring the necessary permits to operate in the country. Should the permits be approved, LAN expects to acquire Aeroasis and make it part of its company.

ruifo

December 10th, 2010, 12:41 PM

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/11/18/349942/alta-2010-lan-expects-to-close-tam-meger-in-2q-2011.html

DATE:18/11/10
SOURCE:Air Transport Intelligence news

ALTA 2010: LAN expects to close TAM meger in 2Q 2011

By Brendan Sobie

LAN expects to close its acquisition of Colombia's Aires within the next month and close its merger with Brazil's TAM by mid 2011.

Enrique Cueto, the chief executive of LAN and the new LATAM Airlines Group, tells ATI at the ALTA 2010 Leadership Forum that the merger with TAM is on pace to close in the second quarter of next year. The deal is currently being reviewed by various regulatory agencies.

LAN last month also announced the acquisition of Aires, Colombia's second largest domestic carrier. Aires will be folded into LATAM, giving the new group passenger carriers in seven South American countries. Cueto says LAN aims to complete due diligence and close the Aires deal within one month, saying "we have to go quickly" because Aires is "running out of cash" and will disappear without new investment from LAN.

ALTA president and Avianca-TACA chairman Roberto Kriete was one of several Latin airline industry leaders during the forum to congratulate Enrique Cueto and his brother, Ignacio Cueto, on their historic tie-up with the TAM's Amaro family. Kriete joked that LATAM "could just write a couple of cheques and buy us all out".

But Kriete points out the LAN-TAM combination is still "much smaller than the monsters we compete against in the open skies environment," referring to US carriers.

He says all the traffic of all ALTA members combined is still smaller than the traffic at Delta, United, "and maybe American". Kriete adds that "in this industry economies of scale are a must to be able to have a competitive position".

Volaris chief executive Enrique Beltranena also congratulated LAN and TAM, pointing out the deal brings together two companies which were already highly successful. "It's not LAN taking over; it's LAN and TAN combining two well performing models to make something that is absolutely great," Beltranena says.

Deutsche Bank managing director and senior analyst Michael Linenberg similarly applauded the LAN-TAM deal and the overall consolidation trend in Latin America, including last year's Avianca-TACA deal. "In Latin America I see an industry that is consolidating at a much faster rate than the US," Linenberg says.

MonoRio

December 29th, 2010, 07:13 PM

I think the future in Brazil regarding alliances will look like this:

LATAM will stay with ONEWORLD!
GOL/VARIG will join SKYTEAM!
AVIANCA/TACA with STAR ALLIANCE!

In resume, if my predictions maintain, ONEWORLD will gain the most benefit in South America, by having the largent carrier LATAM with them!

Rohne

December 30th, 2010, 12:42 AM

1. That's pure speculation.
2. There is and will not be any airline with the name LATAM. LATAM (IF the merger goes through, which still is a big if) will be an airline group with two separate airlines, LAN and TAM plus their subsidiaries.
Only LAN can "stay" with OneWorld, TAM is a fresh star alliance member and this won't change in the foreseeable future. At present, the situation is that the two airlines of the prospective LATAM group belong to different alliances, that's it. It's not up to us to decide whether any of the two will change its alliance membership.
CA and CX also have strong ties but are members of different alliances, so a continuation of the status quo wouldn't be too strange. Additionally, the respective alliances won't make it easy for the airlines to leave.
Again, every "prediction" about a situation of the status quo is pure speculation.

hkskyline

January 6th, 2011, 10:27 AM

Argentine-Peru firm to invest $250 mln in airports

LIMA, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The consortium Aeropuertos Andinos plans to invest $256.9 million to modernize six airports in southern Peru, the government said on Wednesday.

The consortium, consisting of Peru's Andino Investment Holding and Argentine firm Corporacion America, which operates 48 airports worldwide, signed a 25-year concession for airports in Arequipa, Tacna, Ayacucho, Puno, Madre de Dios and Apurimac.

Expanding and modifying airports in Peru's remote south is part of the country's strategy of becoming a hub for trade and tourism in South America.

The consortium will invest $75 million in the next two years and $182 million in a second investment phase, said Enrique Cornejo, Peru's minister of transportation and communications.

The Aeropuertos Andinos consortium could also seek a concession for the new Chincheros airport that will serve Cusco, Peru's top tourist destination, said Carlos Vargas, president of the consortium.

The concession will be granted before Peru's newly elected president takes office in July, he said.

hkskyline

January 19th, 2011, 05:04 PM

Chile's LAN sees TAM merger done in 6-9 months

SANTIAGO, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Chile's flagship airline LAN expects to complete a merger with Brazil's TAM within six to nine months, after inking a deal with final terms and conditions.

Both airlines announced their plans in August and await regulatory approval in their countries. Analysts say LAN is effectively acquiring the Brazilian airline as the Cueto family is set to emerge with the major stake in what would be one of the world's top carriers.

The Cueto family is the main shareholder of LAN, considered one of Latin America's most profitable airlines.

Shares in LAN opened slightly higher in Santiago trade.

Yuri S Andrade

January 19th, 2011, 07:06 PM

Movimento Total de Passageiros nos Aeroportos Infraero, DAESP, Maringá e Cascavel - 2009/2008:

Aeroporto --------- 2009 --- 2008 --- Cresc. %
1º. São Paulo-Guarulhos (SP) --- 21.607.303 --- 20.400.304 --- 5,92%
2º. São Paulo-Congonhas (SP) --- 13.659.398 --- 13.672.301 --- -0,09%
3º. Brasília (DF) --- 12.213.825 --- 10.443.393 --- 16,95%
4º. Rio de Janeiro-Galeão (RJ) --- 11.796.413 --- 10.754.689 --- 9,69%
5º. Salvador (BA) --- 7.063.087 --- 6.042.307 --- 16,89%
6º. Porto Alegre (RS) --- 5.607.703 --- 4.931.464 --- 13,71%
7º. Belo Horizonte-Confins (MG) --- 5.566.779 --- 5.189.528 --- 7,27%
8º. Recife (PE) --- 5.249.831 --- 4.679.457 --- 12,19%
9º. Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont (RJ) --- 5.040.424 --- 3.628.766 --- 38,90%
10º. Curitiba (PR) --- 4.853.733 --- 4.281.354 --- 13,37%

(...)

TOTAL --- 129.403.007 --- 114.763.089 --- 12,76%

Brazilian Airports by Passenger Traffic (INFRAERO, DAESP, Maringá and Cascavel airports - 2010/2009):

Airport ------------------ 2010 --- 2009 --- Growth %
1º. São Paulo-Guarulhos (SP) --- 26.774.546 --- 21.727.649 --- 23,23%
2º. São Paulo-Congonhas (SP) --- 15.481.370 --- 13.699.657 --- 13,01%
3º. Brasília (DF) --- 14.149.306 --- 12.213.825 --- 15,85%
4º. Rio de Janeiro-Galeão (RJ) --- 12.229.513 --- 11.828.656 --- 3,39%
5º. Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont (RJ) --- 7.805.387 --- 5.099.643 --- 53,06%
6º. Salvador (BA) --- 7.540.289 --- 7.063.087 --- 6,76%
7º. Belo Horizonte-Confins (MG) --- 7.261.041 --- 5.617.171 --- 29,27%
8º. Porto Alegre (RS) --- 6.676.216 --- 5.607.703 --- 19,05%
9º. Recife (PE) --- 5.933.137 --- 5.250.565 --- 13,00%
10º. Curitiba (PR) --- 5.769.712 --- 4.853.733 --- 18,87%
11º. Fortaleza (CE) --- 5.072.786 --- 4.211.651 --- 20,45%
12º. Campinas-Viracopos (SP) --- 5.021.939 --- 3.364.404 --- 49,27%
13º. Manaus (AM) --- 2.705.131 --- 2.300.022 --- 17,61%
14º. Florianópolis (SC) --- 2.672.250 --- 2.108.383 --- 26,74%
15º. Vitória (ES) --- 2.644.729 --- 2.342.283 --- 12,91%
16º. Belém (PA) --- 2.570.899 --- 2.203.653 --- 16,67%
17º. Natal (RN) --- 2.413.416 --- 1.894.113 --- 27,42%
18º. Goiânia (GO) --- 2.348.648 --- 1.772.424 --- 32,51%
19º. Cuiabá (MT) --- 2.134.267 --- 1.671.704 --- 27,67%
20º. Maceió (AL) --- 1.425.340 --- 1.117.250 --- 27,58%
21º. São Luís (MA) --- 1.379.146 --- 984.756 --- 40,05%
22º. Campo Grande (MS) --- 1.208.765 --- 1.028.643 --- 17,51%
23º. Foz do Iguaçu (PR) --- 1.155.615 --- 807.540 --- 43,10%
24º. Aracaju (SE) --- 940.389 --- 727.679 --- 29,23%
25º. João Pessoa (PB) --- 930.450 --- 598.015 --- 55,59%
26º. Itajaí-Navegantes (SC) --- 852.487 --- 593.900 --- 43,54%
27º. Teresina (PI) --- 798.170 --- 557.798 --- 43,09%
28º. Uberlândia (MG) --- 765.395 --- 570.900 --- 34,07%
29º. Belo Horizonte-Pampulha (MG) --- 757.685 --- 598.360 --- 26,63%
30º. Londrina (PR) --- 733.157 --- 572.717 --- 28,01%
31º. Porto Velho (RO) --- 716.905 --- 561.331 --- 27,72%
32º. Ribeirão Preto (SP) --- 677.768 --- 473.200 --- 43,23%
33º. Macapá (AP) --- 540.695 --- 469.836 --- 15,08%
34º. Maringá (PR) --- 497.979 --- 319.576 --- 55,82%
35º. São José do Rio Preto (SP) --- 424.740 --- 303.466 --- 39,96%
36º. Ilhéus (BA) --- 412.572 --- 361.378 --- 14,17%
37º. Macaé (RJ) --- 410.145 --- 374.379 --- 9,55%
38º. Santarém (PA) --- 405.122 --- 364.615 --- 11,11%
39º. Palmas (TO) --- 389.217 --- 298.484 --- 30,40%
40º. São Paulo-Campo de Marte (SP) --- 361.863 --- 312.460 --- 15,81%
41º. Rio Branco (AC) --- 355.916 --- 323.114 --- 10,15%
42º. Joinville (SC) --- 289.161 --- 208.492 --- 38,69%
43º. Petrolina (PE) --- 254.161 --- 207.271 --- 22,62%
44º. Juazeiro do Norte (CE) --- 244.780 --- 247.775 --- -1,21%
45º. Marabá (PA) --- 242.415 --- 243.094 --- 251.071 --- -0,28%
46º. Boa Vista (RR) --- 242.409 --- 190.469 --- 27,27%
47º. Imperatriz (MA) --- 234.295 --- 195.181 --- 20,04%
48º. Presidente Prudente (SP) --- 213.105 --- 178.926 --- 19,10%
49º. Rio de Janeiro-Jacarepaguá (RJ) --- 134.247 --- 114.093 --- 17,66%
50º. Montes Claros (MG) --- 121.140 --- 84.999 --- 42,52%
51º. Cruzeiro do Sul (AC) --- 118.867 --- 96.778 --- 22,82%
52º. Campina Grande (PB) --- 114.258 --- 82.240 --- 38,93%
53º. Bauru-Arealva (SP) --- 97.334 --- 41.324 --- 135,54%
54º. São José dos Campos (SP) --- 84.176 --- 43.820 --- 92,09%
55º. Altamira (PA) --- 81.565 --- 70.175 --- 16,23%
56º. Araçatuba (SP) --- 78.296 --- 56.207 --- 39,30%
57º. Uberaba (MG) --- 75.391 --- 73.851 --- 2,09%
58°. Cascavel (PR) --- 75.149 --- 56.555 --- 32,88%
59º. Sorocaba (SP) --- 63.243 --- 58.342 --- 8,40%
60º. Carajás (PA) --- 68.618 --- 39.609 --- 73,24%
61º. Curitiba-Bacacheri (PR) --- 60.678 --- 30.897 --- 96,39%
62º. Marília (SP) --- 54.120 --- 41.089 --- 31,71%
63º. Tabatinga (AM) --- 43.884 --- 35.806 --- 22,56%
64º. Bragança Paulista (SP) --- 43.196 --- 32.335 --- 33,59%
65º. Tefé (AM) --- 32.209 --- 20.462 --- 57,41%
66º. Campinas-Amarais (SP) --- 29.246 --- 26.971 --- 8,43%
67º. Corumbá (MS) --- 28.070 --- 27.973 --- 0,35%
68º. Belém-Júlio César (PA) --- 27.491 --- 25.078 --- 9,62%
69º. Criciúma (SC) --- 23.213 --- 9.873 --- 135,12%
70º. Belo Horizonte-Carlos Prates (MG) --- 22.431 --- 16.924 --- 32,54%
71º. Jundiaí (SP) --- 19.607 --- 19.112 --- 2,59%
72º. Itanhaém (SP) --- 16.189 --- 18.210 --- -11,10%
73º. Araraquara (SP) --- 12.344 --- 8.524 --- 44,81%
74º. Ubatuba (SP) --- 11.858 --- 8.815 --- 34,52%
75º. Bauru (SP) --- 11.173 --- 10.275 --- 8,74%
76º. Campos dos Goytcazes (RJ) --- 10.004 --- 7.446 --- 34,35%
77º. Pelotas (RS) --- 8.163 --- 6.195 --- 31,77%
78º. Assis (SP) --- 8.154 --- 7.081 --- 15,15%
79º. Piracicaba (SP) --- 6.554 --- 6.888 --- -4,84%
80º. Lins (SP) --- 4.520 --- 6.405 --- -29,43%
81º. Ponta Porã (MS) --- 4.479 --- 3.495 --- 28,15%
82º. Paulo Afonso (BA) --- 3.718 --- 3.837 --- -3,10%
83º. Barretos (SP) --- 3.611 --- 3.642 --- -0,85%
84º. Franca (SP) --- 3.221 --- 3.068 --- 4,99%
85º. Uruguaiana (RS) --- 3.144 --- 2.786 --- 12,85%
86º. Andradina (SP) --- 2.941 --- 2.493 --- 17,97%
87º. Parnaíba (PI) --- 2.612 --- 2.046 --- 27,66%
88º. São Carlos (SP) --- 2.461 --- 1.433 --- 71,74%
89º. Votuporanga (SP) --- 2.377 --- 1.955 --- 21,59%
90º. Bagé (RS) --- 2.269 --- 1.837 --- 23,52%
91º. Ourinhos (SP) --- 1.716 --- 1.318 --- 30,20%
92º. Tupã (SP) --- 1.419 --- 952 --- 49,05%
93º. Juiz de Fora (MG) --- 965 --- (0) --- (0)
94º. Avaré-Arandu (SP) --- 735 --- 1.073 --- -31,50%
95º. Botucatu (SP) --- 722 --- 588 --- 22,79%
96º. São Manoel (SP) --- 716 --- 739 --- -3,11%
97º. Dracena (SP) --- 635 --- 486 --- 30,66%
98º. Presidente Epitácio (SP) --- 632 --- 791 --- -20,10%
99º. Penápolis (SP) --- 520 --- 405 --- 28,40%

INFRAERO --- 154.322.438 --- 128.135.616 --- 20,44%
DAESP --- 1.793.153 --- 1.316.113 --- 36,25%
Maringá --- 497.979 --- 319.576 --- 55,82%
Cascavel --- 75.149 --- 56.555 --- 32,88%

TOTAL --- 156.688.719 --- 129.827.860 --- 20,69%

hkskyline

January 19th, 2011, 07:07 PM

Wow the difference between Rio and Sao Paulo is quite drastic!

Yuri S Andrade

January 19th, 2011, 07:14 PM

^^
São Paulo is, in every respect, much more a "Brazilian London" than a "Brazilian New York". Financial, banking, industry and even airports hubs are heavily concentrated in São Paulo.

About the airports, São Paulo is served not only by Guarulhos and Congonhas, but also by Viracopos (12th place in the list), in Campinas (95 km away), which is regarded today as part of the informal "São Paulo Macrometropolitan Area".

hkskyline

January 26th, 2011, 05:00 PM

Brazil airline TAM sees slowdown in 2011 demand

SAO PAULO, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Brazil's largest airline, TAM Linhas Aereas , said on Tuesday it expects growth in demand for domestic flights to slow to 15 percent to 18 percent in 2011, but to remain supported by robust tourist and business travel.

The forecast for 2011 follows growth of 23.5 percent in 2010. Earlier this month, rival Gol Linhas Aereas forecast an increase of 10 percent to 15 percent in domestic demand this year. [ID:nN04209878]

TAM added in a filing that that its occupancy rate for the year should reach between 73 percent and 75 percent.

TAM, which plans a 10 percent to 15 percent expansion in its number of seats, expects the average price of oil <CLc1>, a key component of operational costs because of jet fuel, to trade at $93 a barrel.

hkskyline

January 26th, 2011, 06:31 PM

Chile LAN Q4 profits soar 50 pct yr/yr to $165 mln

SANTIAGO, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Chile's powerhouse airline LAN said on Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit rose 50 percent to $165 million, above market expectations of $158 million in a recent Reuters poll.

LAN, a leading regional carrier, reported its profit for 2010 jumped 82 percent from the year before to $419.7 million, above a market forecast of $412 million, as passenger and cargo traffic rebounded sharply from the global financial crisis.

hkskyline

January 28th, 2011, 12:47 PM

Gol Linhas Aereas CEO: To Fly 33 Mln-36 Mln Passengers In 2011
27 January 2011

(Dow Jones)--Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (GOLL4.BR) Chief Executive Constantino de Oliveira said Thursday the Brazilian airline expects to fly between 33 million and 36 million passengers this year, or an increase of up to 16% from 2010, as it looks to exploit booming international demand and expand its fleet.

"Our fleet will grow to 115 (aircraft) by the end of 2011 from 112 now," Oliveira told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview on the sidelines of a low cost airline conference in Singapore.

"We will receive another 80 aircraft by 2015. The 80 aircraft will help us stay on our fleet growth plan and keep our fleet young at about five and half years to six years."

Air traffic in Brazil has been on the rise in recent years due to a booming economy and an increase in demand for international routes. According to the latest data from Gol Linhas, the country's passenger traffic in 2010 rose 18%. The airline likely flew 31 million passengers last year, Oliveira said.

The company registered 30.78 billion revenue-passengers kilometers or RPKs, last year, compared with 26.1 billion RPKs in 2009. The measure of RPKs is calculated by the number of passengers multiplied by the number of kilometers an airline flies.

Oliveira also said that his airline is yet to take a decision on whether it will exercise an option for 40 Boeing 737 aircraft that it has with the American manufacturer.

"We have to see how the market develops. We have the right to convert the options into orders but we always like to do things step by step," he said.

Meanwhile, the company has no current plans to sell shares, he added.

"We always assess our plans. We are very conservative and we will always try to keep our balance sheet strong. If we find out that it's the right time to go to the market we will, but as of now there are no plans (for a share sale)," Oliveira said.

On Airbus announcing the launch of the A-320-NEO, a new engine option version of its most popular narrow-body plane, Oliveira said he expects Boeing and engine supplier General Electric to improve their engines and make them more efficient.

"The initiative of Airbus is very important from the environment's point of view as it will save fuel. But I believe for Boeing it's better to build a brand new aircraft with new technology than just changing engines," he said.

"We expect to see some improvement from GE on the Boeing 737-800 engine in terms of fuel consumption and maintenance reliability for the engines," he added.

The NEO version of the A-320, the main rival of Boeing's 737 series run on Gol Linhas's aircraft, claims to reduce fuel consumption by 15%.