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LATAM Airlines said Tuesday that Brazil's antitrust authority Cade had approved its joint business agreement with American Airlines Group without restrictions. LATAM said its agreement with American Airlines, and a similar accord with IAG, had now been approved by authorities in Uruguay, Colombia and Brazil. The agreement seeks to help the airlines coordinate schedules and prices for flights, and would allow American and IAG to grow in South America by offering more connections and lower fares. Chile, which has previously raised competition concerns, has yet to give its approval. The deal also still requires approval by the US DoT and that will only happen when an Open Skies treaty between the US and Brazil goes into effect, according to a source familiar with the situation. <br/>

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which coordinated and led the huge underwater search for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER that went missing in 2014, has issued its final report, saying it is “almost inconceivable and certainly societally unacceptable” that what happened to the aircraft and those on-board remains unknown. The ATSB’s report, issued Oct 3, does not reveal any new information about the search or add to what little has been established about flight MH370, but it does recommend further efforts to ensure airliners are tracked continuously. The search for the missing aircraft continued for 1,046 days until Jan 17, 2017, when it was suspended in a joint decision by the govts of Malaysia, Australia and China. <br/>