Aviation authorities in Colombia authorized the creation of a cargo affiliate airline there as a subsidiary of LAN airlines.

The company can now begin the operational and technical certification process. LAN Cargo said Monday that it expects that process to take approximately six months and the airline could launch operations in the first quarter of 2009.

Colombia is the largest air cargo market in Latin America for exports to the United States. LAN said it will add two new 777 freighters to its fleet in the first quarter 2009.

A team of Colombian executives and technical professionals will manage the Colombian affiliate.

"We are very pleased to continue with the consolidation of our cargo network, connecting the region's main productive centers and markets, while reaffirming LAN Cargo's objective of uniting Latin America with the rest of the world," said Cristian Ureta, chief executive officer of LAN Cargo.