MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

TAM and South African Airways sign codeshare agreement

South African Airways (SAA) and Brazilian carrier TAM Airlines have signed a codeshare agreement to increase access to destinations in both countries for both leisure and business travellers.

Destinations in Brazil that will be accessible through the agreement are from Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Brasília, Salvador, Florianopolis, Iguaçu Falls, Recife and Belo Horizonte.

Brazilian passengers flying to South Africa will have access to Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth.

“Alliances and partnerships of this nature form a crucial part of modern airline management, which is about providing convenient connection for customers to as many destinations as possible without necessarily using your own resources,” SAA's commercial acting general manager, Manoj Papa, said in a statement on Thursday.

“This codeshare provides a platform to tap into the potential that lies in both carriers' respective markets in a manner that would significantly enhance benefits for passengers of both airlines.”

The collaboration will also offer leisure travellers a variety of holiday options, as well as business travellers access to multiple business centres.

“This codeshare operation is vital in that customers travelling to and from various parts of Africa, South America and countries in the east are able to use SAA's Johannesburg hub as a convenient connection point to various parts of the world,” Papa said.

Members of SAA's loyalty programme, Voyager, will continue to earn miles and obtain tier status when travelling on TAM flights, and members of the TAM Fidelidade programme will also continue to earn and redeem points when they travel on SAA flights.

“We are seeking partnerships like this to offer our customers flights to all over the world,” said LATAM Airlines Group senior vice president of strategic alliances, Soledad Berrios.

“Together with South African Airways we will make travelling between Brazil and South Africa easier, and the countries will be the gateways of the South American and African continents.”