MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

TAM to start London flights, orders new planes

TAM, Brazil's largest airline, will start a daily flight to London as of October 28, landing at Heathrow airport, the main entrance to the United Kingdom.

The frequency will be offered prime time, ensuring greater comfort and convenience to passengers, mainly to business travellers. It will depart from Guarulhos airport (Sao Paulo) at night, arriving in Heathrow in the afternoon. The return will also be at night, landing in Sao Paulo in the early morning. Such a schedule will allow immediate connections not only to Tam's large domestic network, but also to other locations from London.

The authorization for TAM to operate the seven weekly frequencies between Brazil and London was granted by the Brazilian Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) in April and this week Airport Coordination Limited (ACL), the authority responsible for slots allocation in the United Kingdom, released the slots to Heathrow airport. The new flight will be operated on Airbus A330-200s, with three classes: economy, executive and first. This will be Tam's second destination in Europe, as the company already offers two daily flights to Paris.

The company has also started a daily flight connecting Manaus to Miami. The flight departs from Fortaleza, with a stop in Belem and Manaus, and enables a connection with the Brasilia hub. With this new line, TAM starts flying directly to Miami three times a day, twice from Guarulhos and, now, once from Manaus. Weekly, one of the flights departing from Guarulhos stops in Salvador.

TAM has been a leader in the Brazilian domestic market for more than two years, and had a 45.6% market share at the end of May 2006.

The airline also announced yesterday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire 37 additional Airbus aircraft. The order includes 15 Airbus A319s, 16 A320s and six A330s to be delivered until 2010. The new agreement comes in addition to last year's signed contract for 29 A320s to be delivered during the same period and the option of another 20 aircraft of the same models.