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.
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.
South African Airways (SAA) and Brazilian carrier TAM Airlines have signed a codeshare agreement to increase access to destinations in both countries for both leisure and business travellers.
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.
Chile's LAN Airlines and Brazilian carrier TAM have appealed to Chile's top court some of the conditions imposed on their planned merger as the companies push ahead to create one of the world's biggest airlines.
Brazil's economy showed new signs of a slowdown on Tuesday as steelmakers slashed their growth forecasts, the country's No. 1 airline scaled down its expansion plans and a new poll showed growing pessimism in the manufacturing sector.
TAM, Brazil's largest airline has ordered 34 aircraft to renew its fleet as it expands operations in its home market and overseas. The operation involves 3.2 billion US dollars and includes 32 A320 Airbus (156/174 seats) and two Boeing 777-300ERS (365 seats).