TAM and GOL rise on strong Brazil traffic improvement. US majors drop as premium traffic hovers
The New York Stock Exchange's Arca Airline index fell 0.61% as US airline stocks languished. The largest falls were United Airlines (-3.2%), Continental (-3.0%) and JetBlue (-2.7%). Delta too lost 1.6% in value.
There was sombre news that US premium traffic - unlike the rest of the world's improvement - was static for the month of May-2010.
See related report: Passengers travelling on business have returned - IATA
US airlines too were under fire in the House examination of ancillary charges, perhaps threatening the future upside potential for this highly lucrative source of revenue.
However, the bright spot for the airline sector was Latin America, where TAM (3.6%) and GOL (+2.0%) moved well against an otherwise flat market. The Brazilian airline market was very strong for the month of Jun-2010, with traffic up a very sound 16.8% year on year.
On 14-Jul-2010, TAM had announced it was to buy Tam Milor Taxi Aereo, Representacoes, Marcas e Patentes SA. As a result, TAM now owns all the TAM brands. Purchase price is to be BRL170, buying 257,000 shares priced at BRL661 each, with 15% payable in cash on signing. The remainder is payable in promissory notes.
North & South America selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 15-Jul-2010
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation & Yahoo! Finance