LATAM Airlines Brasil

When a Boeing 777-300ER in indigo blue touches down in Frankfurt in the afternoon, it most likely comes from São Paulo. LATAM Airlines Brasil is Brazil’s largest airline and one of the few regular visitors from South America for European spotters. Behind the uniform LATAM look, though, lies a puzzle of two companies, three codes and a brand that officially no longer exists: TAM. Here you’ll learn how to identify LATAM Brasil with confidence, which aircraft it flies and where you can get it in front of your lens in Europe.

LATAM Airlines Brasil at a glance

LATAM Airlines Brasil is the Brazilian airline of the LATAM Airlines Group and is headquartered in São Paulo. It flies a dense domestic network in Brazil, connections within South America and long-haul routes to North America and Europe. Its most important hub is São Paulo-Guarulhos, complemented by Brasília and the city airport São Paulo-Congonhas; Rio de Janeiro-Galeão also plays a big role.

The parent, the LATAM Airlines Group, was formed from the merger of Chile’s LAN and Brazil’s TAM. The Chilean sister LATAM Airlines carries the same livery but is a separate company – more on that below. In the Brazilian market, LATAM Brasil competes mainly with GOL and Azul.

From TAM to LATAM: the history

The roots lie in the interior of the state of São Paulo. In 1961, pilots in Marília founded the air taxi company TAM – Táxi Aéreo Marília. Rolim Amaro, who joined in the early 1970s and took control shortly afterward, was a defining figure. On July 12, 1976, the regional airline TAM – Transportes Aéreos Regionais began scheduled service.

TAM made the leap to a major airline in the 1990s. From 1991, Fokker 100s joined the fleet, and TAM quickly became the world’s largest operator of that type. In the late 1990s the first international route started with São Paulo–Miami, followed in 1999 by the first European route, Paris. Milan was added in 2007.

After the decline of the former number one, Varig, TAM took over parts of its international traffic in the mid-2000s and became Brazil’s leading airline. Other traditional names such as VASP and Transbrasil also disappeared from the market at this time.

In 2010, TAM and LAN announced their merger, and by June 2012 it was complete. Both airlines initially kept flying under their old brands. In May 2016, the names TAM and LAN disappeared, and everything has operated as LATAM since. The Brazilian company has been called LATAM Airlines Brasil ever since.

Two serious accidents are part of the history: in 1996 a Fokker 100 crashed into a residential area shortly after takeoff from Congonhas, and on July 17, 2007 an Airbus A320 overran the runway on landing at Congonhas and hit a building. In the second accident, TAM Flight 3054, 199 people died; it is considered one of the deadliest accidents in Brazilian aviation.

Codes, callsign and flight numbers

With LATAM Brasil, a close look at the codes is worthwhile, because three abbreviations come together here:

• IATA code JJ: belongs to the Brazilian company itself.
• ICAO code TAM: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on flight trackers – a leftover from the old brand.
• Callsign TAM: This is how the crew identifies itself on the radio.
• Group code LA: LATAM sells most flights under this code, including those of LATAM Brasil. So the departure board in Frankfurt typically shows an LA flight number.

For you as a spotter, that means: an LA flight number doesn’t yet tell you which LATAM company is flying. The ICAO code on the tracker does. How IATA and ICAO codes work in general is explained in the article on IATA and ICAO codes.

The fleet: Airbus at home, Boeing on long-haul

According to the available fleet overviews (as of August 2025), LATAM Brasil operates about 170 aircraft. The split is clear: the Airbus A320 family carries the domestic and regional network, while Boeing widebody jets fly the long-haul routes.

Type	Number (approx., 2025)	Seats	Use	Spotter tip
Airbus A319	19	144	Domestic	Shortest version, being replaced
Airbus A320	57	162	Domestic, South America	Largest sub-fleet
Airbus A320neo	30	174–180	Domestic, South America	Big engines, sharklets
Airbus A321	27	224	Domestic	Older generation
Airbus A321neo	14 (+ more on order)	224	Domestic, regional routes	Replaces the A321
Boeing 777-300ER	10	410	Europe, North America	The heavyweight
Boeing 787-9	in the group pool	approx. 300	Long-haul	Chile-registered aircraft also in use
Embraer 195-E2	on order	approx. 136	Domestic	First deliveries from 2026

The Boeing 777-300ER is LATAM Brasil’s flagship and the aircraft you are most likely to see in Europe. With about 410 seats it is the largest type in the whole group. At LATAM, the Boeing 787-9 is mostly registered with the Chilean sister but is also used on routes from Brazil. So you may find a 787 with a Chilean registration on a route from São Paulo. The manufacturer of the long-haul jets is Boeing.

In short- and medium-haul, LATAM Brasil relies entirely on Airbus. Alongside the A319, A321 and the classic A320, the share of the A320neo and A321neo is growing. For smaller routes, the airline ordered Embraer 195-E2s in 2025 – bringing a regional jet back into the fleet after the Fokker years.

Historic types

Some aircraft defined the TAM years and are gone today:

• Fokker 100: the workhorse of the 1990s, long since retired.
• Airbus A330: long-haul pioneer from 1998, in service until 2016.
• Airbus A350-900: In 2016, TAM was the first A350 operator in the Americas. The aircraft were handed back by 2021, several of them subleased to Qatar Airways. They were replaced by the Boeing 787.
• Boeing 767-300ER: Passenger flights ended in 2023. The last aircraft left Brazil at the end of 2023 for conversion to a freighter in the USA.

777-300ER or 787-9? How to tell them apart

In Europe you meet two widebody types at LATAM in the same livery. With a few features you can tell them apart even at a distance.

The surest feature on approach is the main landing gear: six wheels per side on the 777, four on the 787. You’ll find more details in the comparison Telling the Boeing 777 and 787 apart; the abbreviations B77W and B789 are explained in the article on ICAO type designators.

Brasil or Chile? The registration decides

The LATAM group has several operating airlines – besides Brasil and Chile, for example LATAM Peru, LATAM Colombia, LATAM Ecuador and the cargo division LATAM Cargo. All passenger aircraft carry the same livery. For spotters, the registration is therefore the most important feature.

Airline	ICAO code	Typical registration	In Europe
LATAM Airlines Brasil	TAM	PR-, PS-, PT-	777-300ER and 787-9 from São Paulo
LATAM Airlines (Chile)	LAN	CC-	787 from Santiago
LATAM Cargo	LCO (Chile)	CC-	777F and 767F, including in Frankfurt

Brazilian aircraft carry registrations with the prefixes PP-, PR-, PS-, PT- or PU-. LATAM Brasil’s 777-300ERs, for example, are registered as PT-MU…. What the letters on the tail generally mean is explained in the article on aircraft registrations.

How to recognize LATAM Brasil

Since 2016 the aircraft have carried the LATAM group livery: white fuselage, large “LATAM” titles in indigo blue, plus an indigo blue tail with a coral red accent and the LATAM logo. The old TAM livery in red, blue and white is now history: the last passenger flight of an A320 in TAM colors took place in May 2023.

In between, individual aircraft also wore the oneworld alliance livery while LATAM was still a member – such combinations are rare today and coveted archive subjects. You’ll find background in the article on alliance liveries. One well-known special livery was a 777-300ER with a Star Wars design.

Alliance and partners

For an airline of this size, the alliance history is unusually eventful. TAM joined the Star Alliance in 2010, switched to oneworld in 2014 after the merger with LAN and left it on May 1, 2020. Since then the group has belonged to no alliance. Instead, LATAM relies on a close partnership with Delta Air Lines and on codeshares with other airlines. How such code sharing works is explained in the article on codeshare flights.

In May 2020, the LATAM group entered a Chapter 11 restructuring in the USA, and the Brazilian company joined in July 2020. Flight operations continued throughout, and the group has since completed the process.

Spotting LATAM Brasil in Europe

Almost all European routes start in São Paulo-Guarulhos, a few also in Fortaleza in northeastern Brazil. European destinations include Frankfurt, Lisbon, Milan, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris and London; at the end of March 2026, Amsterdam was added as the ninth European route, flown with the 787-9. Frequencies and types change with every schedule, so the rule is: as of October 2026, check the tracker beforehand.

Frankfurt

In Germany, Frankfurt is your place for LATAM. According to 2026 schedule data, the connection from São Paulo is flown with the 777-300ER; the overnight flight from Brazil lands in the afternoon, and the return flight departs in the evening. According to schedule data, the route is currently scheduled daily. A good vantage point is the Zeppelinheim viewing platform. Which spots work with which runway direction is shown in the Frankfurt plane spotting guide.

Lisbon

Lisbon has traditionally been closely tied to Brazil. LATAM flies there from São Paulo and from Fortaleza; the Fortaleza connection was increased for winter 2026/27. In addition there are numerous Brazil flights by TAP – a good place to see several South American airlines in one day. Tips on spots are in the Lisbon plane spotting guide.

Milan

LATAM has been flying to Milan-Malpensa since the TAM era (started 2007). A well-known spot right at the airport is the aviation museum Volandia.

Common mix-ups

• Equating an LA flight number with LATAM Chile – LA is the group code; the ICAO code TAM indicates LATAM Brasil.
• Taking TAM for a historic airline – the brand has disappeared, but the company keeps flying as LATAM Brasil.
• Assuming every LATAM 787 is Brazilian – many 787s are registered in Chile (CC-).
• Logging a LATAM Cargo 777F as a passenger 777 – the freighter has hardly any windows and belongs to a different company.
• Expecting an A350 at LATAM Brasil – the A350-900s have been gone since 2021.
• Still classing LATAM as oneworld – the membership ended in May 2020.

Conclusion

LATAM Airlines Brasil is the former TAM and today the largest airline in Brazil. In South America it flies a large Airbus fleet, and to Europe it sends 777-300ERs and 787-9s from São Paulo. For you as a spotter, the attribution is the real appeal: same livery as the Chilean sister, flight numbers with LA, but ICAO code TAM and Brazilian registrations. If you note the registration and callsign as well, your sighting is cleanly documented.