Brazilian airline TAM and Chile's LAN, which merged three years ago to form the largest airline in Latin America, will stop operating separate brands and fly as LATAM Airlines, the company said Thursday.

"The LATAM Airlines group has decided to adopt a single name and identity," it said in a statement.

The change will start in the first half of 2016 but will be implemented progressively over the course of about three years, it said.

LATAM has 53,000 employees and flies to 140 destinations in 24 countries, with 1,500 daily flights.