TAM and TAP Have Flown 52,900 Passengers Since Signing Agreement
April 11 2008 - 5:28PM
PR Newswire (US)
Six-month-old partnership includes code-sharing and integration of
TAM's 'Fidelity' and TAP's 'Victoria' programs SAO PAULO, Brazil,
April 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TAM (Bovespa: TAMM4 and NYSE:
TAM) and TAP Portugal, a member of the Star Alliance, have flown
52,900 passengers since signing a flight-sharing operational
agreement ("code- share"), launched in September 2007. The
strategic partnership allows TAM to offer its passengers several
TAP-operated direct flights between Brazil and Portugal, departing
from Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and Sao Paulo for Lisbon and Porto.
Passengers can then take connecting flights to the Portuguese
cities of Faro, Funchal and Porto Santo. TAP already offers its
customers various flight options to several Brazilian cities
serviced by TAM. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080221/SPTH002LOGO ) "The
results obtained from the code-share agreement between TAM and TAP
illustrate the success of this partnership, which has brought more
convenience and comfort to passengers traveling between Brazil and
Portugal", said TAM's vice president of Planning and Alliances,
Paulo Castello Branco. The synergy of TAM's and TAP's air travel
networks ensures more convenient connections in Brazil and
Portugal, in addition to offering special services to their
passengers, such as pre-assigned seating and direct baggage
transfers on all legs of a trip. "We are very pleased with the
positive results of our cooperation", added Jose Guedes Dias, TAP
Portugal's director of Alliances and Foreign Relations. "It
demonstrates that both companies are strongly committed to the
quality and convenience of the product we offer our clients,
resulting in greater flexibility of services and wider choice of
destinations." Airport check-in counters for both companies are
prepared to accept electronic tickets (Interline Electronic Ticket
- IET) issued by either one, allowing passengers the convenience of
receiving a single ticket for all stages of a trip. The system
provides greater security for the passenger, who need only show
identification and ticket number when checking in to request a
boarding pass that will cover the entire trip. The agreement also
provides for integration of TAM's "Fidelity" and TAP's "Victoria"
programs, allowing clients from both companies to accumulate and
redeem points on flights from either company. Investor Relations:
Phone: (55) (11) 5582-9715 Fax: (55) (11) 5582-8149
http://www.tam.com.br/ir Press Agency: Phone: (55) (11) 5582-8167
Fax: (55) (11) 5582-8155 MVL Comunicacao Phone. (11) 3594-0302 /
0304 / 0305 About TAM: TAM (http://www.tam.com.br/) has been the
leader in the Brazilian domestic market for more than four years
and closed March 2008 with a 51.4% market share. The company
operates flights to 42 Brazilian destinations. It serves 79
different destinations in the Brazilian market through commercial
agreements with regional companies. Among Brazilian airline
companies, TAM's international market share was 68.9% in March. Its
international operations include direct flights to 17 destinations:
New York and Miami (USA), Paris (France), London (England), Milan
(Italy), Frankfurt (Germany), Madrid (Spain), Buenos Aires and
Cordoba (Argentina), Santiago (Chile), Caracas (Venezuela),
Montevideo and Punta del Este (Uruguay), Asuncion and Ciudad del
Este (Paraguay), and Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Cochabamba
(Bolivia). Additionally, it has code share agreements with
international airlines, which allow passengers to travel to another
64 destinations in the United States, South America and Europe. TAM
was the first airline company to launch a loyalty program in
Brazil; TAM's program currently has 4.5 million members and has
redeemed more than 5.2 million tickets in exchange for points.
About TAP: TAP is the market's leading airline and a member of the
Star Alliance since March 14, 2005, when it celebrated its 60th
anniversary. Its hub in Lisbon is a key staging point for accessing
Europe, located at the crossroads between Africa, North America and
South America, the region in which TAP stands apart as the leading
airline operating in Brazil, with 66 weekly flights. The TAP
Network currently covers 58 destinations in 25 countries around the
world. Operating an average of more than 1,850 flights per week,
TAP boasts a modern fleet of 52 Airbuses, plus another 16 airplanes
in service from Portugalia Airlines (PGA), acquired in 2007, for a
total global fleet of 68 airplanes. Continuing a strategy of
focusing on the passenger, TAP constantly invests in innovation and
utilization of new technologies, offering a product and services of
the highest quality, security and dependability.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080221/SPTH002LOGO
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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