CHILE: Volcano's Growing Lava Cork...Could Cause New Eruptions; Regional Flights Cancelled; Australian Flights Delayed.

M.PRESS

Geologists at the Puyehue volcano report that a lava “cork” is blocking important lava flows...and possibly building-up pressure for massive new eruptions.

Meanwhile, travel misery continues for many.
Chile's national carrier LAN suspended many regional flights...and far away in Australia...many flights were delayed.

Ranchers are also worried about 1.5 million sheep and livestock grazing on ash-covered pastures.

CHILE/BRASIL: TAM/LAN Airline Merger Proposed.

M.PRESS/      Subject to regulatory and stockholder approvals, Brasil's TAM and Chile's LAN airlines will merge. The combined airline will have 115 destinations in 23 countries with 40,000 employees. In 2009, Lan Chile earned $3.66 billion usd, while TAM gained $4.89 billion. The all- stock transaction is valued at $3.7 billion usd.

BOLIVIA: Many More Are Now Flying With... "Evo Air."

BBC/ Long Feature on Boliviana de Aviacion (BoA)/ Andres Schipani/
      From its first flight in March 2009, BoA's goal has been to increase and "democratize" the flying experience. "Basically by allowing air transport to be available for people who had never had the chance of flying, for people in a country with high levels of poverty who might be in desperate need of air transport - today it is crystal clear that more people are flying in Bolivia," says BoA's general manager Ronald Casso. BoA offers no business class. It's main competitor, Aerosur, calls BoA unfair. "What BoA is doing is to prostitute the market. And it is aimed at monopolising the market, personally by the president and its allies. This is a political battle because this government cannot stand private business," claims Aerosur official Gerardo Lopez.

CHILE: Pinera Sells Remaining LAN Stake After Critics Lambast Slow Pace.

BUSINESS WEEK/   Chile's President Sebastian Pinera finished selling his stake in LAN Airlines, raising a total of $1.5 billion in the past month as the stock rallied to a record. Pinera's delay was criticized by the opposition and even some members of his own coalition.

CHILE: Conservative Billionaire Favored In Presidential Election.

AP/ MIAMI HERALD/
Sebastian Pinera, a 60-year-old billionaire conservative with investments in LAN Airlines, a soccer team and a TV channel,leads in polling ahead of three other candidates for Sunday's presidential election but perhaps NOT enough to avoid a run-off. But the election is unlikely to produce radical changes said NYU's Patricio Navia. "The big surprise of this election is that all the candidates are proposing very similar policies."