MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

LAN plans to invest 4.6 billion USD on its fleet through 2014

Chile's LAN Airlines group plans to spend around 4.6 billion US dollars on its fleet of aircraft through 2014, Chief Financial Officer Alejandro de la Fuente announced.

De la Fuente said in a quarterly earnings conference call the carrier expected its proposed merger with Brazil's TAM to be completed in the first quarter of 2012 after approval by Chilean antitrust authorities. LAN had previously said the merger would not be completed before the fourth quarter.

Chile's antitrust tribunal set a public hearing for May 26 to review the case after a consumers group called for a probe. Analysts say it is unlikely the tribunal will strike down the merger. Brazil's civil aviation authority approved the merger plan, though other national regulators still need to approve it.

The company said it saw no risk to operations in Peru from the outcome of the country's presidential election. Nationalist Ollanta Humala, a former army officer, will face conservative lawmaker Keiko Fujimori, in Peru's presidential run-off on June 5.

LAN said earlier in the week that its first-quarter profit rose 10% from a year earlier to 97.3 million US dollars, short of market expectations as higher fuel costs hurt margins.

The Chilean flag carrier has its main offices in Santiago but operations through out Latin America: Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, plus cargo units in Brazil and Mexico.

In related news the prestigious AirFinance Journal Awards named LAN as the “Airline of the Year 2010”, a title which recognizes excellence in financial administration.

LAN Airlines CFO Alejandro de la Fuente said: “We are very proud to be receiving such an inspiring award. This is an acknowledgement of the solid, successful and consistent financial strategy LAN has developed.”

The latest addition to LAN’s award cabinet is a significant honour, as AirFinance magazine is one of the most respected expert journals in the air transport industry.

The award judges included representative of banks, investment institutions, and the airline industry.