LATAM Airlines Group today announced it will operate a new, non-stop service between Santiago and Melbourne, Australia, from 5 October 2017. The westbound Santiago-Melbourne leg – measuring more than 11,000 km in distance with a flight time of approximately 15 hours – will become the longest non-stop flight in LATAM´s history.
The Amaro family from Brazil, one of the main controllers of LATAM Airlines, sold a 6.47% stake in the regional carrier on Friday on the Santiago stock exchange for some US$296 million, as part of a strategy to modify the company's ownership structure.
Chile's Defense Minister announced the government and workers tied to the civil aviation authority reached an agreement Sunday, ending a four-day strike that forced airlines to cancel hundreds of flights and left thousands of passengers stranded.
Argentine officials publicly stated on Thursday there was no intention of expelling any commercial airline from the country because Aerolineas Argentinas is working well, but called on Latam to help the Argentine flag carrier with reciprocity in Chile and Brazil.
Chile's LAN Airlines completed a takeover of Brazilian rival TAM on Friday, creating the world's second-largest airline by market value in a deal that executives expect to yield up to 700 million dollars in costs savings within four years.
Chilean flag-carrier LAN SA and Brazil's TAM SA have unveiled senior management changes as their plan to merge advances. The merger is expected to be completed in the first quarter, and will see the two airlines taken over by a new holding company, LATAM Airlines Group, the companies said in a statement.