Interesting and surprising news. I guess it makes good sense for both Avianca and Grupo TACA if they are going to have much of a future in an increasingly global airline business.
It was only a few short years ago that I would have seen this merger going the other way around-- namely Pulpo TACA taking over Avianca as they had over a decade previously with Aviateca, Nica, LACSA, and (almost) COPA.
On a separate note, does SAM (a subsidiary of Avianca) still operate as a separate brand or is it entirely absorbed into Avianca.
It is great to see Avianca, America's oldest continuously running airline (they celebrate their 90th anniversary this year in December), doing well again!