LATAM Airlines said Wednesday that Brazil's competition regulator Cade has given the green light for Qatar Airways to purchase a stake in the Chile-headquartered regional carrier. Qatar Airways in July agreed to acquire up to 10% of LATAM's total shares following a capital increase of $613m, through the issuance of new shares at $10 per share. LATAM said it will now move forward with the planned capital increase, which it had said late Tuesday would be delayed as it awaited for the approval from the Brazil's Cade. The controlling shareholder families of LATAM have agreed to the transaction.<br/>
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Malaysia Airlines plans to launch an IPO in 2019 as it makes progress toward profitability. Over the past few years Malaysia Airlines has undergone a serious of setbacks, including two aircraft accidents in rapid succession. In March 2014, MH370, a Boeing 777-200 with 239 passengers and crew, disappeared over the Indian Ocean while on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Four months later, in July, MH17, also a 777-200, was shot down over Ukraine by a surface-to-air missile while on a scheduled flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 298 onboard were killed. The assets of the old Malaysia Airline System (MAS) were bought by Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah in 2014. Trading in MAS shares was suspended Dec. 15, 2014, and the company was delisted, to be replaced by a newly created Malaysia Airline Berhad. “Malaysia Airlines is on track to breakeven by 2017 and will likely be profitable in 2018. We are aiming to get back on the public markets with a listing in in the first quarter of 2019,” Malaysia Airlines CEO Peter Bellew said.<br/>
Heathrow has published its Fly Quiet league table, where they rank 50 airlines based on noise. British Airways’ short-haul fleet has come out on top as the quietest airline flying into Heathrow. Whilst their long-haul carrier was ranked 15. Coming in second was the Irish airline Are Lingus and third was Etihad Airways.<br/>Also in the top ten quietest airlines was Emirates, Qantas and American Airlines. At the bottom of the table, El Al, the Israeli based airline was considered the noisiest. Turkish Airlines both long and short-haul fleet aircrafts were ranked as being noisy. As was Kuwait Airways, Air China and Jet Airways. The figures also revealed that the number of super-quiet Airbus A350 flights has doubled since Heathrow initiated an incentive policy for airlines to fly their cleanest and quietest planes. It also showed that the use of Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights - another quiet aircraft - has risen by 19%. Heathrow’s chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “The Fly Quiet programme helps airlines improve their noise performance and provides incentives for them to fly their newest, quietest aircraft to Heathrow, helping the airport be a better neighbour. We will continue to work with airlines and local communities to be a leader in sustainable aviation.”<br/>