LAN Airlines has confirmed it will acquire the outstanding shares of Colombian airline AIRES, through the purchase of its parent entities. In a deal worth approximately US$32.5 million, Chilean LAN will acquire the remaining 98.94 per cent of the rival South American carrier.

All but one of 126 passengers and five crew survived a devastating accident yesterday when the fuselage of a Boeing 737 broke into three pieces upon crash landing on the Colombian island of San Andres during an electrical storm.