LATAM Beefs Up Lima Hub, Adds Africa Route

LATAM Airlines announced a swathe of new international routes as it bolstered its hub in the Peruvian capital and promised a transatlantic route to Africa.

LATAM, Latin America's largest airline, which was formed in 2012 in a tie-up between Chile's LAN and Brazil's TAM, has been cutting back on capacity in the struggling domestic Brazilian market, where recession and currency headwinds have hurt it.

But it has persisted in enhancing international long-haul and regional connections.

In December 2015 it will begin flights from Lima to Uruguayan capital Montevideo and Antofagasta in Chile, and from mid-2016 to Washington in the US.

It said it was also waiting for regulatory approval to begin flying from Sao Paulo to Johannesburg in 2016, which would make it the only Latin American airline to connect the two continents.

South-south flights are relatively rare, with South African Airways and Ethiopian Airlines among the few airlines directly connecting Africa and South America.

LATAM also said it would adjust a number of Brazilian routes "to give priority to the most promising destinations in light of the economic scenario in the country." That would include cancelling its Belo Horizonte-Miami route and some changes in frequencies elsewhere, it added.