Airline News - Latin America / Caribbean.

Latin American Airline Assn. (AITAL) has changed its name to ALTA (Asociacion Latinoamericana de Transport Aereo) to reflect its expanding role in representing all of the region's carriers, not simply those that fly internationally, according to Executive Director Alex de Gunten. ALTA's mission also is changing, he explained. In the past, the association was "very focused" on regulatory and governmental issues. These are still important, but ALTA is moving aggressively to help members with commercial concerns. "My mandate is to help airlines become more safe and efficient," de Gunten said. For example, ALTA facilitated a fuel-purchasing consortium for Latin American and Caribbean carriers in Miami, enabling them to take advantage of volume discounts. It also worked with five of the region's airlines as they negotiated a joint price on carbon brakes for 767s. "Because Latin America is so fragmented, it creates a lot of inefficiencies, not just for airlines but also for their suppliers," he pointed out. Apr 21, 2006

Latin American business travel takes off. Business travel to Latin America is booming, and some travelers say they have a hard time booking hotel rooms and business-class seats. Argentina, Mexico and Brazil have experienced growth driven by companies trying to take advantage of a better exchange rate with the dollar. Apr 11, 2006

Aeromexico

Aeromexico will operate a thrice-weekly Los Angeles-La Paz service through April 30, which it said would target passengers affected by Aerocalifornia's suspension by aviation authorities. Apr 13, 2006

TAM

Brazil is to be linked to the UK by a second Sao Paulo based airline TAM. Assuming that there is a market it can only be a matter of time before British Airways finds itself competing with either Virgin or bmi to South America's largest country. Currently BA flies daily to Sao Paulo (with three flights going on to Rio, the other four terminating at Buenos Aires) with Varig on a similar schedule but daily through to Rio. BA uses a 747 whilst Varig operates an MD-11. TAM has been a leader in the Brazilian domestic market for more than two years, and had a 44.2% market share at the end of March 2006. TAM operates regular flights to 46 destinations throughout Brazil. It serves 73 different cities in the domestic market through regional alliances. TAM flies the Airbus A330 on its long haul routes. http://www.tam.com.br

Apr 23, 2006