LAN AIrlines“AIRES has made an important contribution by allowing many people in Colombia access to air travel as a means of transportation” said Ignacio Cueto, LAN’s President and Chief Operating Officer. “LAN will now consolidate this growth by elevating even further the airline’s safety, quality, and service standards. We will dedicate our maximum efforts to advance this process as swiftly as possible, applying the experience and recognized capabilities of LAN, so that passengers may benefit from the changes that will gradually be incorporated to the AIRES operations.”
Having completed the due diligence process, LAN will acquire AIRES for US million in cash, in addition to assuming net liabilities of approximately US0 million, which include US million of bank debt.
AIRES will satisfy the foreign ownership and control requirements of each country where it operates. The company will replicate LAN’s successful and efficient “low cost” model already operating in the domestic markets of Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, stimulating demand on domestic flights by providing more Colombian citizens the opportunity to use air transportation. In the medium term, AIRES will evaluate the expansion of international passenger operations and the advantages of any synergies it may obtain from LAN Cargo’s affiliate in Colombia, LANCO, launched in March 2009.
