The Colombian Civil Aviation Authority Aerocivil has approved the proposed merger between the country's largest airline Avianca and Central American carrier Taca.
An Aerocivil source confirms that the its board decided earlier this month to approve the merger "without condition". No Avianca source could be reached immedialtely to give further details.
Avianca and Taca announced in early October their decision to merge ownership into a common corporate umbrella while maintaining seperate brands and management. The holding will be owned 33.3% by Taca's Kriete family and 66.6% Avianca's sole owner, German Efromovich.
The combined group will be the dominant airline in Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Honduras, share a virtual duopoly with Lan in Peru and hold around a 5% domestic market share in Latin America's largest market, Brazil.
Volaris, the Mexican airline co-owned by the Kriete family, will initially not be part of the group but, according to a Taca source, "might enter later".
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
