Latam Airlines stock plunges over 80% at the Santiago market after a reshaping plan was announced, one which evaporated the value of current shares. The proposal is yet to be voted on by creditors between January and February 2022.
The Brazilian airline Azul has confirmed it plans to buy over all of LATAM Airlines' operations, not only the Brazilian branch as reports showed earlier this week. Azul was founded in 2013 by Brazil-born David Neeleman, who also owns low-cost carrier JetBlue.
Brazilian carrier Azul will resume flights to Uruguay as of November 10 with the reopening of the Porto Alegre-Montevideo route four times a week.
LATAM Airlines strongly denied on Monday it has intentions of getting rid of its operations in Brazil, given the interest of its main competitor Azul airlines, as was reported by the Wall Street Journal indicating that there were ongoing conversations with Latam creditors to purchase its Brazilian affiliate.
Azul, Brazil's third-largest airline announced on Monday a one billion dollars accord with German manufacturer Lilium for the purchase of 220 of VTOL electric aircraft scheduled to begin operating in 2025.
After reporting the cancellation of the code share with LATAM Brazil, and announcing that it was looking for «consolidation opportunities» in the market, air industry sources indicate that Azul Linhas Aéreas is considering making an offer to LATAM Airlines for the Brazilian subsidiary.
Brazil’s No. 3 airline, Azul SA, said on Monday it would start operating 17 flights per day between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the country’s most transited route, currently dominated by the country’s No. 1 and 2 carriers.
Brazilian airline shares soared nearly 30% on Monday after a newspaper report said the government may scrap limits on foreign ownership of domestic airlines to attract investment to the struggling sector. President Dilma Rousseff may propose legislation giving her discretion to let foreign groups own as much as 100% of local airlines, up from 20%, Valor Econômico reported.
Avianca Brasil has joined Azul in becoming the second Brazilian airline to promise to cap prices for the upcoming football World Cup, which opens June 12 in Sao Paulo. Avianca said it would match Azul and limit one-way fares to a maximum of 999 Reais (425 dollars).
Brazil's consumer watchdog Procon Rio do Janeiro branch has ordered five airlines to reduce abusive domestic fares during next year's FIFA World Cup. Avianca, TAM, Gol, Azul and Oceanair have been accused of inflating prices up to 10-fold during the June 12-July 13 tournament.