Azul Wants to Create South American Giant With Eye on Latam Airlines: Report

South America's third-largest carrier Azul has set its sights on a big acquisition target: The continent's largest airline, Latam Airlines Group.

In an interview with Chilean daily Diario Financiero, Azul CEO John Rodgerson said the airline has put together a proposal to acquire all of Latam, not just its Brazilian unit as it previously said publicly. With the support of some of Latam's creditors — as yet unnamed — Azul plans to submit its proposal to the U.S. bankruptcy court overseeing Latam's Chapter 11 case once the Chilean carrier's exclusivity period to file a reorganization plan ends, which is currently set for November 26.

"Latam as a group has a lot of value and to keep it together is important culturally, and is the best option," Rodgerson said. "I believe that dividing it is not in our interests."

A Latam spoke