TAM to Begin Operating New Air Network on December 21
December 20 2007 - 7:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Company Transferring Flights from Congonhas to Guarulhos to Comply
with CONAC and ANAC Resolutions SAO PAULO, Dec. 20
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TAM (Bovespa: TAMM4 and NYSE: TAM) will
begin operating its new domestic air network on December 21, in
compliance with rulings by the Brazilian civil aviation agencies
(CONAC and ANAC). Flights departing Congonhas Airport will begin
operations Friday, December 21, with the limitation of a reduction
in number of slots (landings and takeoffs) from 33 to 30 per hour
between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., and from 33 to 16 per hour
between 10:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. for regular flights. The airport
will continue to operate until 11:00 p.m. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060418/SPTU001LOGO )
Frequencies departing Congonhas for Brasilia, Goiania (Goias),
Caxias do Sul (Rio Grande do Sul) and Maringa (Parana) have been
transferred to Guarulhos, allowing the number of flights between
Sao Paulo and these destinations to remain unchanged. For example,
11 flights to Brasilia and four to Goiania still depart from
Congonhas. The company has also started flights from Guarulhos to
Joinville (Santa Catarina), Uberlandia (Minas Gerais), Ribeirao
Preto (Sao Paulo) and Sao Jose do Rio Preto (Sao Paulo). TAM is
also now offering direct service from Guarulhos to Salvador (Bahia)
and Recife (Pernambuco) for the duration of the high-traffic
season. To offset this, a flight from Congonhas to Curitiba
(Parana) was cancelled as well as another to Foz do Iguacu (Parana)
and a third to Londrina (Parana), in addition to two flights to
Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul). These steps allow TAM to adjust
its network to the reduction in slots from 117 to 106 daily flights
operated out of Congonhas to 20 Brazilian airports. Passengers who
purchased tickets to destinations no longer operated from Congonhas
will be rescheduled for flights from Guarulhos. The TAM call center
is contacting customers who purchased tickets directly from the
airline. If the ticket was purchased through a travel agency, the
customer will need to contact the agent who sold the ticket.
Investor Relations: Phone: (55) (11) 5582-9715 Fax: (55) (11)
5582-8149 http://www.tam.com.br/ir Press Agency Contact: Phone:
(55) (11) 5582-8167 Fax: (55) (11) 5582-8155 About TAM: TAM
(http://www.tam.com.br/) has been the leader in the Brazilian
domestic market for more than four years, and held a 49.9% domestic
market share and 73.2% international market share at the end of
November 2007. TAM operates regular flights to 47 destinations
throughout Brazil. It serves 81 different cities in the domestic
market through regional alliances. Additionally, it maintains
code-share agreements with international airline companies that
allow passengers to travel to a large number of destinations
throughout the world. TAM was the first Brazilian airline company
to launch a loyalty program. Currently, the program has over 4.3
million subscribers and has awarded more than 5 million tickets.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060418/SPTU001LOGO
DATASOURCE: TAM CONTACT: Libano Miranda Barroso, TAM Investor
Relations, +011-55-11-5582-9715, fax, +011-55-11-5582-8149, Web
site: http://www.tam.com.br/
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