Category Archives: TAM Brasil

LATAM swings to a net profit of $52 million in the third quarter

LATAM Airlines Group (LAN Airlines and TAM Linhas Aereas) (Santiago and Sao Paulo) swung to the black in the third quarter with a net profit of $52 million versus a loss of $49 million a year ago for the same period.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Read the analysis by Reuters: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Rodrigo Cozzato/AirlinersGallery/com. LAN Cargo’s (LAN Airlines Chile) Boeing 777-F16 N778LA (msn 41518) departs from Viracopos Airport near Sao Paulo.

LAN Airlines:

TAM Linhas Aereas:

LAN Colombia joins Oneworld, TAM to join on March 31, 2014

LAN Colombia (formerly AIRES Colombia) (Bogota) yesterday (October 1) joined the oneworld® alliance.

LAN Colombia, a company related to LATAM Airlines Group SA (LAN Airlines), has entered oneworld as an affiliate member. LAN Airlines has been a full member of oneworld since 2000. All its other passenger airline affiliates have subsequently joined the alliance as affiliate members – LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador, LAN Peru and, from today, LAN Colombia – and, it was announced today, TAM will enter oneworld on 31 March 2014 with its Paraguayan affiliate to follow on a date yet to be confirmed.

This will bring all of the components of Latin America’s leading airline group into the world’s leading quality airline alliance, building on oneworld’s position as the first choice airline alliance for frequent international travelers within South America and worldwide.

LAN Colombia was welcomed into oneworld at a ceremony this morning at its Bogota base hosted by LAN Colombia’s Chairman Nicolás Cortázar, its Executive Director Hernán Pasman and its Corporate Director Maria Lara, with oneworld CEO Bruce Ashby, flying in from his New York base, LATAM Vice-President Strategic Alliances Soledad Berrios, from LAN Airlines’ Santiago head office, and senior representatives from the other oneworld airlines serving Colombia, led by American Airlines Managing Director Alliances Latin America Eduardo Marcos, from its Dallas-Fort Worth head office, and Iberia Country Manager María Consuelo Sánchez.

LAN Colombia’s Chairman, Nicolás Cortázar, said: “LAN Colombia is very proud to have joined oneworld. For our company, it represents a significant milestone. For our country, it significantly improves our access to the rest of the world, helping attract more business visitors and tourists, enabling Colombians to reach more of the world’s most important business centres worldwide and making it easier to travel the world from any of the destinations we serve throughout Colombia.”

Since its launch in December 2011, LAN Colombia has quickly established itself as the second biggest airline in South America’s second largest economy. In total, it serves 24 airports in four countries with a fleet of 24 aircraft operating 130 departures a day. It boarded 3.7 million passengers in 2012.

TAM Airlines (TAM Linhas Aereas) (Sao Paulo), a company related to LATAM Airlines Group, will join oneworld® with effect from March 31, 2014, adding the leading carrier in Brazil – Latin America’s biggest economy and largest market for air travel demand – to the world’s leading quality global airline alliance.

TAM’s entry into oneworld with effect from the first flights on March 31, 2014 will follow immediately upon its exit from the Star Alliance with effect from the final flights on March 30, 2014.

TAM serves 60 destinations in 16 countries in Latin America, the USA and Europe, with a fleet of 161 aircraft operating 800 departures daily. It boarded 38 million passengers in 2012.

Three of oneworld’s existing members – American, Iberia and LAN – already serve three destinations in Colombia, in Bogota, Cali and Medellin. LAN Colombia expands that to a total of 21 Colombian gateways.

Across South America, oneworld’s established member airlines already serve 71 destinations in 11 countries. LAN Colombia and TAM add another 56 airports in the region to that network – with LAN Colombia bringing 18 airports on board and TAM.

Worldwide, with LAN Colombia, TAM and the other airlines lining up to join, oneworld will:

Serve almost a thousand airports in more than 150 countries, with 14,000 daily departures.
Carry 480 million passengers a year on a combined fleet of more than 3,200 aircraft.
Generate US$ 140 billion annual revenues.

The addition of LAN Colombia and TAM from March 31, 2014 represents a cornerstone of oneworld’s biggest membership expansion yet. Other elements elsewhere in the world include:

The addition of Malaysia Airlines, one of this industry’s most frequent award winners, six months ago, further strengthening oneworld’s position in South East Asia, one of the fastest growing regions for air travel demand.
The induction on October 30, 2013 of Qatar Airways, the only one of the “Gulf Big Three” carriers slated to join any of the global airline alliances and one of the world’s fastest growing and most highly rated airlines. This will make oneworld the leading alliance in the Middle East, one of the world’s fastest growing regions for air travel demand.
The introduction early next year of SriLankan Airlines, as the first airline from the Indian subcontinent to join any global alliance, which, with Qatar Airways, will make oneworld the leading alliance in the region.
The proposed switch by US Airways from Star to oneworld as part of its planned merger with American Airlines, subject to necessary approvals.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. LAN Colombia’ Airbus A320-233 CC-CQN (msn 3319) prepares to land at Miami.

LATAM Airlines Group loses $330 million in the 2Q

LATAM Airlines Group (LAN Airlines and TAM Linhas Aereas) (Santago and Sao Paulo) reported it lost $330 million in the second quarter. The group was created last year with the merger of the two airlines. The group is struggling in Brazil with TAM due to a weakening Brazilian economy. TAM is cutting costs and reducing flights.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

LATAM Airlines Group Fleet Plans (excerpt from the report):

Top Copyright Photo: Rodrigo Cozzato/AirlinersGallery.com. Sporting new Sharklets, Airbus A320-214 PR-MYY (msn 5591) taxies at the Sao Paulo (Guarulhos) hub.

LAN Airlines (Chile):

TAM Linhas Aereas:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Alvaro Romero/ModoCharlie.com. Boeing 777-F6N N772LA (msn 37708) arrives at the Santiago hub.

American Airlines launches a code-share agreement with TAM Linhas Aereas, will launch new routes to Brazil

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) has announced the launch of a new code-share agreement with TAM Linhas Aereas (TAM Airlines) (Sao Paulo), increasing American’s network connectivity in Brazil and further enhancing its relationship with LATAM Airlines Group. Customers can begin booking tickets on code-share flights for travel starting on August 22.

Through the agreement, the two airlines will code-share on each other’s flights between the United States and Brazil. American’s customers will also have access to TAM flights from Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo to eight additional destinations throughout Brazil, including Fortaleza, Natal and Vitoria, and TAM’s customers will also have access to American flights from Miami, New York and Orlando, to 25 cities in the U.S., including Atlanta, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

The improved access provided through the relationship will also complement American’s new Brazilian service to Curitiba (CWB) and Porto Alegre (POA) from Miami, pending government approval, and Sao Paulo (GRU) from Los Angeles, all of which will be available for booking on August 18. The new service from Miami to Curitiba and Porto Alegre will launch on November 21 and the service from Los Angeles to Sao Paulo will launch on December 16. With the additional routes, American will serve nine destinations in Brazil.

TAM, which plans to join the oneworld^® alliance in 2014, is a member of the LATAM Airlines Group. LATAM operates nearly 1,500 daily flights to 144 destinations in 27 countries.

Top Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. American’s Boeing 737-823 N980AN (msn 33203) approaches Los Angeles International Airport for landing.

American Airlines:

TAM:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Bernardo Andrade/AirlinersGallery.com. TAM’s Airbus A319-132 PR-MAN (msn 1831) prepares to land at the downtown Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro.

LATAM Airlines Group reports 1Q net income of $42.7 million, down 48.9%

LATAM Airlines Group (LAN Airlines) (TAM Linhas Aereas) (Santiago and Sao Paulo) has reported its financial results through March 31, 2013 for the first quarter:

HIGHLIGHTS

LATAM Airlines Group reported operating income of $114.2 million (US) for first quarter 2013, a 149.8% increase compared to the $45.7 million pro forma operating income in first quarter 2012. Operating margin reached 3.4%, an increase of 2.0 points compared to 1.4% in 2012. This result reflects a steady recovery in business operations as we advance in the process of achieving the expected synergies from the merger between LAN and TAM.

Net income reached $42.7 million for first quarter 2013, compared to a pro forma consolidated net income of $83.7 million for the same period in 2012, which represents a decrease of 48.9% mainly due to a foreign exchange gain of $133.4 million recognized at TAM during the first quarter 2012.

TAM continues to make significant progress in the turnaround of the domestic Brazil passenger operations, maintaining capacity discipline with a 9.2% reduction in ASKs during the first quarter 2013 as compared to the first quarter 2012. Healthy traffic growth of 3.4%,as well as improved market segmentation and revenue management practices have resulted in strong load factor improvements of 9.5 percentage points as compared to the first quarter 2012,reaching 77.7%. This led to a significant increase in revenue per ASK,as measured in Brazilian reais. Results in U.S. dollars were affected by a 13% depreciation of the Brazilian currency during the quarter as compared to the first quarter 2012. We remain convinced that capacity discipline and an adequate segmentation of the market will provide the basis for continued healthy load factors and a significant improvement in operating results in 2013.

We remain confident in our synergy target of between $600 and $700 million, to be fully achieved by the fourth year after the merger (June 2016). Important progress was made in recent months with the code share agreement signed between TAM and American Airlines as well as with LATAM’s election of oneworld as its global alliance. We have begun to harmonize the airlines’ frequent flyer programs,as well as advanced on cost initiatives related to contract renegotiations and process standardization. Furthermore, important synergies have been achieved through the coordination of the LAN and TAM cargo operations. We expect merger synergies to be between $250 and $300 million during 2013. However,we expect to continue to incur certain costs related to the integration process.

Total revenues in the first quarter 2013 reached $3,409.0 million compared to pro forma revenues of $3,360.2 million in first quarter 2012. The increase of 1.5% is a result of a 1.5% increase in passenger revenues and a 38.6% increase in other revenues, partially offset by a 3.2% decrease in cargo revenues. The slight increase in revenues reflects capacity reductions in the domestic Brazil passenger operations and a more challenging environment for international passenger operations, as well as weak market demand in the cargo business. Passenger and cargo revenues accounted for 84.2% and 13.5% of total revenues, respectively, in first quarter 2013.

During the first quarter 2013, LATAM received a total of 5 Airbus A320 family aircraft and 1 Boeing 767-300 passenger aircraft. Furthermore, the Company returned 1 Airbus A320-200 and sold 2 Airbus A318 aircraft.

Top Copyright Photo: Alvaro Romero/ModoCharlie.com. LAN Airlines’ Airbus A318-121 CC-CVR (msn 3390) carries special Telethon 2011 logo at Santiago. The snow-capped Andes Mountains are in the background.

LAN Airlines:

TAM Linhas Aereas:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Bernardo Andrade. TAM’s Airbus A319-132 PT-TMD (msn 4192) in the retrojet color scheme climbs away from Santos Dumont Airport in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Please click on the photo for the full-size view.

LAN and TAM take delivery of the first Airbus A320s with Sharklets

LAN Airlines (Chile) (Santiago) and TAM Airlines (TAM Linhas Aereas) (Sao Paulo) (LATAM Airlines Group) each took delivery of their first Airbus A320s equipped with Sharklets. Powered by CFM, the LAN and TAM aircraft were delivered this week and will begin operating domestic routes within Chile and Brazil. The two airlines combined have ordered 380 aircraft and have more than 240 aircraft in operation. Their joint Airbus backlog totals nearly 180 aircraft.

Sharklets are made from light-weight composites and are 2.4 meters tall. They are an option on new-build A320 Family aircraft and allow Airbus’ airline customers to reduce fuel burn up to four percent over longer sectors and reduce approximately 1,000 tons of CO2 emissions per aircraft per year. Sharklets offer operators the flexibility of either adding an additional 100 nautical miles range or increased payload capability of up to 450 kilograms.

Top Copyright Photo: Airbus. A320-214 D-AXAW became CC-BFK (msn 5548) and was handed over to LAN on April 18 followed by CC-BFL (msn 5554) on the following day.

Meanwhile TAM received Airbus A320-214 PR-MYY (msn 5591) on April 23.

LAN Airlines:

TAM to join the Oneworld Alliance

LATAM Airlines Group (LAN Airlines and TAM Linhas Aereas) (Santiago) today confirmed its selection of oneworld® as the global alliance for all its passenger airlines.

The decision, announced at a meeting of the oneworld Governing Board held in Hong Kong today, means:

Brazil’s TAM Airlines will leave the Star Alliance to join oneworld, along with its Paraguay subsidiary. Their transition is expected to be completed during 2014’s second quarter.
LAN Colombia, the latest part of LAN, will join oneworld as an affiliate member, in the fourth quarter of 2013.

With Chile’s LAN Airlines flying as a full member of oneworld since June 2000 and LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador and LAN Peru added since as affiliate members, today’s announcement will bring all of Latin America’s top airline group into the same global airline alliance, alongside 11 of the other leading carriers from around the world and 30 of their affiliates.

An exact date for TAM’s departure from the Star Alliance will be announced in due course. The intention is for it to become part of oneworld immediately after it exits Star.

Copyright Photo: Keith Burton. TAM Brasil’s (TAM Linhas Aereas) Boeing 777-32W ER PT-MUE (msn 38886) arrives at London (Heathrow).

LAN:

TAM:

LATAM reports its first quarterly statement, a net profit of $49.7 million in the second quarter

LATAM Airlines Group S.A. (LAN Airlines and TAM Linhas Aereas) (Santiago) has announced a second quarter net profit of $49.7 million. This is the first financial report for the group. Here is the full statement.

“LATAM Airlines Group has announced its consolidated financial results for the second quarter and for the six months ended June 30, 2012. “LATAM” or “the Company” makes reference to the consolidated entity, which includes passenger and cargo airlines in Latin America. All figures were prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and are expressed in U.S Dollars, except for TAM S.A. (“TAM”) second quarter 2012 Income Statement figures, which are expressed in Brazilian reais.

HIGHLIGHTS

 LATAM Airlines Group S.A. today reported its first consolidated financial results for the second quarter and first half of 2012, following the successful completion of the exchange offer and mergers that combined the businesses of LAN Airlines S.A. and TAM S.A. (“TAM”). Because the transaction was completed on June 22, 2012, results for the period ended June 30, 2012 include the last eight days of TAM results, from June 23 to June 30, 2012.
 Net income of LATAM Airlines Group reached US$49.7 million in the second quarter 2012. Operating income reached US$23.2 million, resulting in a 1.5% operating margin for the second quarter 2012. Consolidated LATAM results include net income of US$46.3 million and an operating loss of US$13.9 million corresponding to the eight days of consolidation of TAM between June 23 and June 30, 2012. Non-operating results for this eight day period reflect a foreign exchange gain of US$57,4 million and a positive mark-to-market of fuel hedging derivatives in the amount of US$ 26,7 million, as a result of the appreciation of the Brazilian real and an increase in the price of fuel, respectively, during the last eight days of the quarter.
 The second quarter 2012 presented a challenging environment due to reduced cargo demand and the depreciation of local currencies, especially the Brazilian real. However, passenger demand in most of Latin America remains solid and the successful completion of the business combination between LAN and TAM provides the Company with a more diversified revenue base and significant growth and synergy opportunities. Furthermore, the domestic Brazil market has shown sustained capacity discipline, providing the basis for improved profitability.
 LATAM Airlines Group is advancing in the process of achieving the expected synergies from the business combination with TAM. Regarding its international passenger operations, the Company has established fare combinability between LAN and TAM, cross selling of LAN and TAM flights, and code shares on various international routes, such as Santiago – Orlando, Santiago – Madrid, and Santiago – London. Cross selling will assist the Company in capturing connectivity synergies by offering our customers a single network in a one- stop shop.
 In July 2012, the cargo divisions of LAN and TAM were integrated, taking advantage of the highly complementary nature of their operations.
 On September 4, 2012, LATAM Airlines Group will hold an Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting in order to reelect the Board of Directors of the Company, as well as to approve the placement, through a preemptive rights offering to LATAM shareholders, of the remaining 7,436,816 shares of the Company that were authorized for the TAM exchange offer, and that were not exchanged.

LATAM Airlines Group S.A. 2Q12

 During the remainder of 2012, LATAM expects to receive 12 Airbus A320 family aircraft to operate domestic and regional routes, as well as 8 Boeing 767-300, 4 Boeing 777-300 and the first 3 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners for long- haul routes. The Company will also take delivery of 2 Boeing 777 freighter aircraft.
 LAN Airlines S.A. (renamed LATAM Airlines Group S.A.) – excluding the consolidation of TAM – reported net income of US$5.2 million for the second quarter of 2012, a decrease of 67.5% compared to the US$15.9 million reported in second quarter 2011. Operating income reached US$37.1 million, a 33.5% decrease compared to the US$55.8 million in second quarter 2011. Operating margin reached 2.6%, a decrease of 1.6 points compared to 4.2% in 2011. The Company continued to show strong passenger revenue growth, despite a seasonally low quarter, partially offsetting the impact of a more challenging environment in the cargo business, as well as the ongoing development of LAN Colombia’s operations. In addition, operating results include a one-time cost of US$7.1 million related to the successful completion of the collective bargaining process with certain unions, as well as US$9.2 million in transaction costs related to the business combination with TAM.
 TAM reported a net loss of R$928.1 million, compared to net income of R$60.3 million reported in second quarter 2011. For the second quarter 2012, TAM reported an operating loss of R$284.2 million, compared to the R$8.8 million gain in second quarter 2011. Operating results were mainly impacted by a 23.0% depreciation of the Brazilian real and decreased revenues from Multiplus, resulting from accounting changes in the recognition of such revenues implemented in the first quarter 2012. Non-operating results reflect a foreign exchange loss of R$845.9 million, and the negative mark-to-market of fuel hedging derivatives in the amount of R$93.6 million, resulting from the depreciation of the Brazilian real and the decrease in fuel prices, respectively, as compared to March 31, 2012.”
Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing. Boeing 767-316 ER CC-CEB (msn 26327) climbs away from Los Angeles International Airport on a very clear day.

LAN Airlines (Chile):

TAM Linhas Aereas:

TAM to start daily nonstop Rio de Janeiro-Orlando service on October 29

TAM Linhas Aereas (TAM Airlines) (LANTAM Airlines Group) (Sao Paulo) will now launch the daily nonstop Rio de Janeiro (Galeao)-Orlando route with Airbus A330-200s on October 29 according to Airline Route.

In addition, the airline will upgrade the daily Sao Paulo (Guarulhos)-Miami route to the pictured Boeing 777-300 ER starting on September 19.

Copyright Photo: Nick Dean. Climbing beautifully, brand new Boeing 777-32W ER PT-MUD departs from the runway at Paine Field near Everett.

TAM:

ABSA Cargo is now operating as TAM Cargo

ABSA Cargo Airline (Sao Paulo) is now operating this new Boeing 767-316F ER as TAM Cargo (TAM Linhas Aereas) (Sao Paulo). PR-ADY (msn 32573) is pictured arriving at Rio de Janeiro (Galeao) today (July 15) on a ferry flight after receiving this new livery at Mexico City.

ABSA: