A plane traveling between Santiago and the southern Chilean city of Punta Arenas had to return to the capital and make an emergency landing on Thursday afternoon after a bomb threat, authorities said. A Brazilian woman on board the LATAM Airlines flight had told one of the flight attendants there was a bomb on the plane around 20 minutes into the flight, said airport manager Juan Luis Rodriguez. After returning to Santiago, the passengers were escorted off the plane, he said, and the woman was arrested. Authorities are searching the plane, he added. LATAM Airlines said it could not comment under aviation protocols.<br/>
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LATAM Airlines swung to a small Q3 profit on improved revenue and continuing cost reduction. Net income of US$4.7m compared to a net loss of US$113.3m for the same period last year. Operating income saw a 26.3% rise to US$120.6m. Revenue edged up 0.2% to US$2.52b, its first revenue increase for eleven quarters. LATAM reduced domestic capacity in Brazil by 13.2% and saw a rise in revenue per available seat km of 8.6% as a result. Capacity on Brazil-US routes in the quarter to end September was reduced by almost a third, but overall international capacity rose by 4.9%. Load factor came in 0.9 percentage points higher at 84.8%. LATAM announced changes in its six domestic markets where it will move to a lower cost model, reduce fares and introduce fees for extras.<br/>
Air Berlin made a E45.6m net loss in its third quarter as weak tourism demand hit revenue. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), and restructuring costs were down 31% to E55.81m. After restructuring costs were factored in Air Berlin made a E17.3m EBIT loss. In what Air Berlin said was a challenging market, the airline saw revenue drop 5% to E1.23b from Q3 last year. Capacity (in available seat km) increased by only 0.1%, but revenue per available seat km (RASK) was down by 5.5%. Load factor edged up 0.4 percentage points to 88.64%. Air Berlin said that due to the threat of terrorism it had moved capacity from the Eastern Mediterranean to Spanish destinations such as Mallorca and the Canary Islands. “Due to increased market pressure, particularly in the tourism sector, the third quarter did not meet our expectations, and conditions remain challenging,” CE Stefan Pichler said. “While the fourth quarter will not bring a significant operational improvement for Air Berlin, we are confident of being able to announce progress with our restructuring in the foreseeable future,” he added.<br/>