São Paulo – On Wednesday (5th), airlines Qatar Airways and GOL Linhas Aéreas signed a code-share agreement.
Under the agreement, the Qatari airline will be able to offer its passengers flights to 48 destinations operated by GOL in Brazil (see list at the end of the article).
According to information from the GOL press office, the two companies are also looking into joining their mileage programs. Thus, passengers enrolled in GOL’s Smiles or Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club programs will be able to accumulate miles and then use them in any of the flights operated by either company.
"Six months ago, Qatar Airways made a historic entry into South America with non-stop flights to Sao Paulo from Doha and, in doing so, opened up many opportunities for passengers wanting to fly from across our extensive network to Brazil," said the CEO of Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker, in a press statement.
"Today, we are delighted to extend our reach even further across Brazil, South America’s largest country, through this exciting partnership with GOL. Greater access and a greater number of cities strengthen Qatar Airways’ network, resulting in benefits for our customers, who will have further travel options," he finished off.
Constantino de Oliveira Junior, the CEO of GOL, also highlighted the advantages of the agreement to his company. "We are very pleased to establish this partnership with Qatar Airways, one of the most widely recognized companies in international aviation. Through the agreement, in addition to increasing the turnover in our system, we intend to offer our clients enrolled in SMILES direct access to the Middle East and Asia, even further increasing the scope of the program, which already has partners in North America and Europe."
In an interview to newspaper Valor Econômico, Marcelo Bento, the director of GOL, informed that the company will not sell stretches flown by Qatar Airways because it does not operate long-range flights. However, the company has informed that the agreement will represent an additional sales channel by promoting an increase in the flow of passengers and in the occupancy rates of its own flights.
The contract was submitted by the companies for analysis and approval from the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) and the Administrative Council for Economic Defence (Cade).
The companies
GOL Linhas Aéreas offers low-cost flights, and presently operates nearly 900 daily flights to 51 destinations in 13 countries. Established in 2001, the private company operates with a fleet of Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft.
Qatar Airways is the Qatari national airline. Founded in 1994, it now operates with 91 aircraft to 95 destinations, in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. The flight between the cities of Doha, in Qatar, and São Paulo, was inaugurated in June last year.
Destinations
From São Paulo, Qatar Airways’ passengers will be able to travel to the following destinations in GOL aircraft:
Aracaju, Bauru, Belém, Brasília, Boa Vista, Cuiabá, Campo Grande, Chapecó, Belo Horizonte (Confins), Campinas, Campina Grande, Curitiba, Caxias do Sul, Cruzeiro do Sul, Fernando de Noronha, Florianópolis, Fortaleza, Rio de Janeiro (Galeão and Santos Dumont airports), Goiânia, Foz do Iguaçu, Imperatriz, Ilhéus, Juazeiro do Norte, Joinville, João Pessoa, Londrina, Marabá, Manaus, Macapá, Maceió, Maringá, Natal, Navegantes, Palmas, Petrolina, Porto Alegre, Porto Seguro, Porto Velho, Presidente Prudente, Rio Branco, Recife, São Luís, Salvador, Santarém, Teresina, Uberlândia and Vitória.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
