Gol and Air Europa–a company acquired in November by British Airways’ parent International Airlines Group (IAG) for 1 billion euros–signed a flight sharing agreement (codeshare) to fly in Brazil.
The deal, according to information from the newspaper Valor Econômico, will allow the European company to fly to more than 20 Brazilian cities, on 78 domestic flights, departing from Sao Paulo, Recife, Fortaleza and Salvador. Gol customers, in their turn, will have access to destinations in Europe arriving in Madrid.
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Today, Air Europa offers 18 weekly flights to Madrid from Recife, Salvador and Sao Paulo. At the end of the year, the company will also fly to Fortaleza.
The deal also include the loyalty programs of the two companies (Air Europa Suma and Smiles). This means that customers of both companies will be able to collect and redeem miles on both programs.
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The Globalia group, former owner of Air Europa, recently showed interest in operating in the Brazilian domestic market. As soon as the Provisional Measure that released 100% of foreign capital in the country was signed, the group applied for the concession to operate the regular passenger service, which was promptly authorized by the National Civil Aviation Agency, ANAC. But the group did not disclosed when and how it would start flying in Brazil’s domestic market.