Panama Jack
29th Feb 2004, 18:27
It's not not often that Latin America is a "first" in anything when it comes to industry and commerce, however, I ponder whether the region is, at least in it's aviation industry, at the forefront of consolidation and the creation of the concept of "Global Airlines." I recall reading an industry analyst predicting that, within a few years, there will be less than 10 global trunk carriers. This will not include the low-cost niche carriers. Given the merger between Air France and KLM, I think there is evidence that this is happening slowly.
But consider this in Latin America:
*GRUPO TACA-- the formation of Aviateca, TACA, TACA Honduras, NICA, LACSA and TACA Peru. These names are starting to disappear and the airline is starting to simply be recognized as "TACA"
*LAN (making it's rebranded debut in March)-- a collection of LanChile, LanExpress, LanEcuador, LanPeru and LanDominicana.
LanChile is also in negotiations with authorities for the purchase of L'neas Aéreas Federales (Lafsa) in Argentina.
*Continental-- with their purchase (and paint scheme) with COPA Airlines
And then there is the question of what will happen to the Colombian airline AVIANCA. According to an article I saw, AVIANCA, which is currently under US Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection, is looking for a buyer. Of course, the usual suspects' names emerged as being "interested"-- namely Grupo TACA, LAN Chile, and Continental/COPA Airlines.
Say, anybody in Chile who would like to chat? PM me please.
But consider this in Latin America:
*GRUPO TACA-- the formation of Aviateca, TACA, TACA Honduras, NICA, LACSA and TACA Peru. These names are starting to disappear and the airline is starting to simply be recognized as "TACA"
*LAN (making it's rebranded debut in March)-- a collection of LanChile, LanExpress, LanEcuador, LanPeru and LanDominicana.
LanChile is also in negotiations with authorities for the purchase of L'neas Aéreas Federales (Lafsa) in Argentina.
*Continental-- with their purchase (and paint scheme) with COPA Airlines
And then there is the question of what will happen to the Colombian airline AVIANCA. According to an article I saw, AVIANCA, which is currently under US Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection, is looking for a buyer. Of course, the usual suspects' names emerged as being "interested"-- namely Grupo TACA, LAN Chile, and Continental/COPA Airlines.
Say, anybody in Chile who would like to chat? PM me please.