With recent approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation, US Airways said its customers will be able to enjoy expanded travel between the United States and destinations in Central and South America, thanks to a new codeshare agreement between TACA Airlines and US Airways beginning Jan. 12, 2010. Flying will be open for sale beginning Dec. 5 at usairways.com and through global distribution channels. The codeshare agreement will complement existing US Airways flying to Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize and beginning Dec. 15-Rio de Janeiro, Brazil-from its Charlotte, N.C., hub. With this new agreement, US Airways customers traveling from the United States to Latin America will be able to connect on flights operated by TACA Airlines. Through TACA's hubs in San Salvador, El Salvador; San Jose, Costa Rica; and Lima, Peru, US Airways customers can travel on a single ticket to those countries, as well as Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and Nicaragua. Conversely, TACA customers gain access to US Airways' markets in the United States and beyond through connecting opportunities in Charlotte.

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TACA Airlines announces its new destination Orlando, Florida, serviced three times per week towards and from its hub in El Salvador. This flight becomes the ninth gateway to the United States and an opportunity for Orlando passengers to access TACA’s route network throughout Latin America. Inaugural flight from Central America and Lima The airline is doing an inaugural flight with special guests, travel trade, and media from Central America and Lima. The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA), Orlando/Orange County Conventions & Visitors Bureau (OOCVB), Walt Disney World, Busch Entertainment Corporation, the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission and the Metro Orlando Hispanic Chamber of Commerce have contributed and worked with TACA’s different teams over the past months to make this service a reality.

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Headlines on 7-Oct-2009 announced that Central America’s TACA and Colombia’s Avianca were to merge. But behind headline, the back-story is far more intriguing. The actual plan involves quite a bit more than a simple merger - as the Latin American airline market gears up for titanic struggles. Avianca, as we detailed in our recent SWOT analysis, is owned, along with a number of other airlines and interests by Synergy Aerospace, itself a branch of the Synergy Group, with its primary focus as a Latin American oil and gas conglomerate. On the other side, the TACA group has been privately owned by the Kriete family since 1961 and they remain the largest shareholders in Grupo TACA Holdings. The agreement reached in October specifies that Synergy Aerospace was to acquire 2/3 of the Grupo TACA Holdings with the remaining third continuing to be held as at present. According to a presentation released at the time of the announcement “the shareholders have defined that the corporate governance of the company will be based on consensus”. But like Avianca and its widespread interests, Grupo Taca is a complex entity. With a history dating to 1931, aviation historian R.E.G. Davis has said that, “there has never been an airline quite like TACA anywhere in the world”. Its current form represents an interesting evolution that remains unique.

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Becoming the Airline Group with the Largest Coverage, Serving More Than 100 Destinations in America. A Unique Passenger and Cargo Network in Latin America Through the Strategic Hubs in Bogotá, San Salvador, San José de Costa Rica and Lima. The Combined Strengths of Their Complementary Fleet, Aligned Coupled with the Outstanding Talent of Their People Will Enable the Airline Group to Build a More Competitive Business Model. Avianca and TACA Will Preserve Their Respective Brands and Continue to Operate Separately under a Common Strategic Vision BOGOTA, SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, LIMA, Peru & SAN JOSE, Costa Rica--(Business Wire)-- Synergy Group and Grupo Taca Holdings Ltd announced today that they have reached an agreement leading to the creation of Latin America`s leading airline group. As a result of this agreement, each shareholder will contribute its respective controlling ownership participations in the operations of Aerovías Del Continente Americano S.A., ("Avianca"), Colombia`s leading airline, and Grupo TACA ("TACA"), Central America`s leading carrier, to a newly formed holding company. The transaction is subject to regulatory and other antitrust approvals.

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Synergy Aerospace Corp. (accionista mayoritario de Avianca) y Kingsland Holding Limited (accionista mayoritario de TACA) anunciaron hoy que han llegado un acuerdo encaminado a la creación del grupo líder de aerolíneas en Latinoamérica. Como resultado de este acuerdo, cada parte contribuirá a una recién formada compañía, su respectiva participación sobre la que ejercen propiedad en las aerolíneas. Por una parte, Aerovías del Continente Americano, S.A. Avianca, aerolínea líder en Colombia; y por la otra, el Grupo TACA, aerolínea líder en Centro América y Perú. Este acuerdo se concretará dentro de un proceso que abarca varias fases de implementación y el proceso de aprobaciones pertinentes, incluyendo regulatorias y de competencia.

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