Anti-trust authorities in Brazil have approved the merger between Chilean carrier LAN and Brazilian airline TAM.
The merger was announced last year and will create the largest airline group in Latin America, to be know as LATAM. Chilean authorities had previously approved the merger, with a number of conditions.
As part of the conditions set by Brazil’s Council for Economic Defence (CADE), two pairs of slots will have to be given up at Guarulhos airport for the Sao Paulo-Santiago route.
Speculation will also centre on which airline alliance the merged group will choose to be affiliated with.
LAN is currently a member of the BA-founded Oneworld, while TAM is within the 28 carrier-strong Star Alliance, and CADE conditions mean one of the airlines will have to resign its membership.