AeroMexico and Brazil’s TAM Airlines Agree to Codeshare

AeroMexico has signed an agreement with Brazilian carrier TAM Airlines to codeshare on flights between Mexico City and São Paulo, as well as on connecting flights to domestic destinations in both Brazil and Mexico.

According to AeroMexico, the agreement will benefit passengers by offering better schedules and connections, starting April 23.

The codeshare agreement gives passengers traveling from Mexico City to São Paulo the opportunity to connect to Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Brasilia, Fortaleza, Belo Horizonte, Florianopolis, Curitiba, Recife, and Porto Alegre, as well as the 43-plus other destinations within TAM Airlines’ extensive network of domestic routes.

TAM Airlines operates a few Airbus A321-200s on domestic routes, in one-class, 220-seat configuration

Additionally, under the codeshare agreement, passengers traveling from São Paulo can connect to destinations such as Acapulco, Leon, Ciudad Obregon, Cancun, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Poza Rica, Los Cabos, Veracruz and any of the other 40 cities in AeroMexico’s domestic network.

According to AeroMexico, the agreement allow it to strengthen its presence in Brazil, one of the most important countries in Latin America for both business in tourism.

The Mexican carrier also notes that, for passengers from Brazil, AeroMexico’s hub at Mexico City’s Benito Juárez Internacional airport also represents an option for connecting to Aeromexico’s routes to the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia.

While AeroMexico is a member of the SkyTeam alliance, TAM Airlines currently is a member of Star Alliance.

However, one of the conditions which the Brazilian and Chilean governments have required of TAM Airlines and LAN Airlines to allow their merger to go ahead to create Latin America’s biggest airline group (which is called LATAM) is that one of the two quits the alliance to which it currently belongs, since Chile-based LAN Airlines is currently a member of oneworld.

Industry insiders have tipped TAM to renounce its membership of Star Alliance, since other Latin America airline groups with hubs that compete with TAM’s, notably Avianca-Taca and Copa Airlines, are also members of Star.

LAN Airlines is thought likely to retain its membership in oneworld, particularly since its decision to move its New York JFK operation to American Airlines’ Terminal 8, where American plans ultimately to have all oneworld carriers serving JFK relocate.

The only likely near-term SkyTeam presence in South America is Aerolineas Argentinas, which is due to join SkyTeam in 2013.