ACE Aviation said last week it will sell a minority stake in its main operating unit, Air Canada, for up to $528 million, marking the return of the country’s dominant airline to the public market. The initial and secondary offerings, with shares priced at $21 each, value Air Canada at $1.83 billion. If an over-allotment option is exercised by underwriters, ACE will retain a 71.25 percent interest in the carrier.

Air France KLM is looking to create a low cost carrier to benefit from the growing leisure market, the company said on Friday. The group is examining the development of its subsidiary transavia.com, which offers a mix of scheduled and charter flights, for low-fare flights from France to popular destinations such as Morocco, Tunisia and Spain.

Brazilian airline TAM has ordered 37 additional Airbus planes and placed options for a dozen more, the planemaker said on Thursday. TAM placed firm orders for 31 A320-family single-aisle jets, a dozen A319s, 16 A320s and three A321s and half a dozen wide-body A330 jets, Airbus said.

Starting today, Aeromexico will increase its service of nonstop flights between Florida’s Orlando and Mexico City from four weekly flights to one daily flight. Likewise, the air company announced the inauguration of a second daily flight from December 11 to January 7, 2007.

Copa Holdings, S.A. and its Copa Airlines and AeroRepublica operating subsidiaries, released this week preliminary passenger traffic statistics for October 2006. For the month of October 2006, Copa Holdings’ system-wide passenger traffic (RPM) increased 27.5 percent, while capacity (ASM) increased 19.4 percent.

TravelSpan GT of Guyana has been granted U.S. Transportation Department rights to offer three weekly roundtrip flights between New York (Kennedy Airport) and Georgetown, Guyana, beginning November 30. The flights, aboard 737 aircraft with two-class seating, will be operated by Xtra Airways on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. In-flight services will include hot meals and movies.