Cueto to invest $250mn to make LATAM low cost - report

Brazil’s competition watchdog gives Delta-LATAM JV final nod

Brazil’s competition watchdog (Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica - CADE) has given its final approval of a joint venture between Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) and LATAM Airlines Group, without conditions, the two partners announced in a joint statement.

This follows CADE giving its initial approval in September 2020, which had in turn been the first regulatory green light for the JV since it was signed in May 2020.

The approval covers only LATAM’s Brazilian operations. The Delta-LATAM agreement has also been approved in Uruguay, but the application process continues in other South American countries, including the group’s home country Chile.

The proposed JV with Delta Air Lines - which holds a 20% stake in LATAM Airlines Group - aims to include LATAM Airlines Brasil, LATAM Airlines, LATAM Airlines Colombia, LATAM Airlines Ecuador, and LATAM Airlines Perú.

It will allow, for example, codeshare deals between Delta and the LATAM subsidiaries; shared terminals at New York JFK’s Terminal 4 and Sao Paulo Guarulhos’ Terminal 3;...

LATAM given five-month extension to file restructuring plan

Judge James L. Garrity of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has approved LATAM Airlines Group's request to extend the deadline for the lodging of a restructuring plan by a further five months i.e. until June 30, 2021.

The Chilean holding filed the motion on January 12, saying that the added time would allow it to devise a plan acceptable to all parties concerned. It also argued that the previous deadline of January 29 "would disrupt the orderly administration of the Chapter 11 Cases and could create a risk that multiple, competing plans of reorganization are presented".

A group of LATAM's bondholders sought to challenge the motion and asked the court to limit the extension to 120 days instead of the requested 152 days. The bondholders claimed that LATAM had not provided them with full access to its data - a charge the holding denied - although it did not explicitly link its accusations to the period of extension.

"Even if the Limited Objection’s recitation of the Debtors’ efforts in response...

LATAM Airlines shareholder to exit Chile investment vehicle

BA, Air Canada settle cartel claim with Deutsche Bahn

British Airways, Air Canada, and Deutsche Bahn (DB), the German rail operator, have reached an out-of-court settlement in a longstanding air freight price-fixing cartel dispute before the Cologne Regional Court. The parties agreed to keep details of the settlement, including the amount, confidential, DB said in a statement.

The case relates to the decision by the European Commission in 2010 to impose fines of almost EUR800 million (USD970 million) on 11 air freight operators for illegal agreements on fuel and security surcharges. The carriers coordinated their actions on surcharges for fuel and security without discounts over a six-year period (from December 1999 to February 14, 2006). Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt Int'l) (and its subsidiary Swiss (LX, Zurich)) received full immunity from fines under the Commission's leniency programme, as it was the first to provide information about the cartel.

In 2013, DB subsidiary DB Barnsdale AG brought damages claims of EUR3 billion (USD3.6 billion) in the Cologne Regional Court against the companies involved, including Air Canada, Air France-KLM Royal Dutch Airlines...