SAO PAULO, May 16 (Reuters) - LATAM Airlines

will increase the frequency of seven of its international routes

connecting Brazil to the United States and countries in Europe

and Africa, it said on Thursday.

The move by Chile-based LATAM, whose local unit is currently

Brazil's No. 1 carrier in international operations by market

share, comes as rival Air France KLM also announced it

would add a new route to the South American nation.

Carriers have been enjoying healthy demand for air travel in

Latin America's largest economy and expressed optimism about the

Brazilian market, even as they struggle to add capacity during

an ongoing aircraft shortage.

LATAM said starting Oct. 27, it will increase flights from

Sao Paulo to Orlando, Los Angeles, Johannesburg, Milan, Rome,

Madrid and Lisbon by 38% when compared to the same period a year

ago.

All flights will be operated by widebody aircraft seating up

to 410 passengers, LATAM said, such as the Boeing 777.

The company's long-haul fleet also includes the Boeing ( BA ) 787.

The South American airline has been growing since its exit

in late 2022 from a bankruptcy process triggered by a drop in

traffic related to the coronavirus pandemic. It expects to post

record core earnings in 2024 backed by increased demand.

Earlier on Thursday, Air France KLM said it would also bump

up its operations in Brazil with a new flight connecting Paris

and Salvador three times a week from late October.

"Brazil is one of the countries that received the most

investments from Air France in recent months," the carrier's

South America head Manuel Flahault said, adding the flights will

be operated by Airbus A350 planes.

With the move, Air France KLM will get back to the number of

weekly flights it had in Brazil before the COVID-19 pandemic,

with 44 operations a week also serving Sao Paulo, Rio de

Janeiro, Fortaleza and Belem.

Air France has a commercial partnership with Brazilian

airline Gol in the country.