Sao Paulo, Brazil, 23 Dec – Air carrier TAM, the Brazilian market leader, said Tuesday it had acquired regional aviation company Pantanal for 13 million reals (US$7.2 million).

TAM is the civil aviation market leader in Brazil and transported 23 million passengers on domestic flights, between January and November of this year, which accounted for 45.91 percent of the market.

The airline also transported 16.5 million passengers on international flights, which accounted for 86.67 percent of the market, in the first 11 months of the year.

Pantanal, which was set up in 1993, is a regional airline with a fleet of six turbo-prop ATR42 aircraft, responsible for the routes between Sao Paulo and small cities in the interior of Brazil.

In the first 11 months if 2009, the airline carried 69,574 passengers and was ranked eighth out of Brazil’s airlines and fourth in the regional flights sector. (macauhub)