Tam and Lan May Double Fleet, Fly to Asia in a Decade

(Updates to correct fleet spelling in the headline.)

Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Lan Airlines SA, Latin America’s largest airline by market value, and Brazil’s Tam SA may double their fleet and start flying to Asia in the next 10 years, said Tam’s Vice President, Mauricio Amaro, in an interview with El Mercurio.

Amaro said that in the next decade “is feasible to double our fleet in that period to 450 or 500 airplanes. And is also probable that we start flying to Asia, something that’s not possible today,” Santiago-based newspaper El Mercurio reported.

Lan Airlines SA is expecting Brazil’s antitrust regulator to rule on its proposed acquisition of Tam SA in December, President and Chief Operating Officer Ignacio Cueto said to reporters Nov. 17 in Rio de Janeiro.

Lan expects to present a formal offer by late March or early April, Cueto said.

Tam SA is Brazil’s biggest airline by market value.

--Editor: Jose Enrique Arrioja

To contact the reporter on this story: Jose Enrique Arrioja in Mexico City at jarrioja@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Attwood at jattwood3@bloomberg.net