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Top Secret Airline Watch: Neeleman's Latest Moves in Brazil

JetBlue founder David Neeleman is one step closer to starting up a new carrier. The entrepreneur had a big meeting yesterday with the director of Brazil's Civil Aeronautics Agency, but a spokeswoman said no formal proposal was filed during the talks.

Earlier reports have it that Neeleman already has $200 million lined up to start an airline featuring mid-range Embraer jets. (They're the same model JetBlue flies on shorter routes like JFK to Boston.) Interestingly, only a handful of Embraers, which are made outside São Paulo, have ever flown commercially in Brazil.

While we speculated last week that Richard Branson might have some money behind this plan, there's still no proof of that. Still, as a Brazilian citizen, Neeleman won't likely face regulatory hurdles the way other airline executives might. And that has to have the two major carriers in the country, TAM and Gol, at least a little worried.

Related Stories:
· JetBlue Founder Proposes New Air Carrier [AP, via IHT]
· Neeleman Confirms Interest in Carrier [AE, in Portuguese]
· Rampant Speculation: A Neeleman-Branson Airline? [Jaunted]
· New Airlines coverage [Jaunted]