RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Tuesday morning, February 4th, Gol and American Airlines announced a reciprocal codeshare agreement to create “the most frequent service between the United States and South America”. Brazilian and American authorities have yet to approve the agreement.
According to a press release, the extension includes new destinations in South America not yet served by American Airlines, such as Uruguay and Paraguay, in addition to the Brazilian cities of Curitiba and Foz do Iguaçu. Frequent flyers will also start accumulating points in both companies (via Smiles and AAdvantage) soon after the agreement is approved.
According to Gol, its clients will have access to 53 flights from Rio de Janeiro (GIG), São Paulo (GRU), Brasília (BSB) and Fortaleza (FOR) after the agreement. “The company will offer connections with American Airlines in Orlando (MCO) and Miami (MIA) to cities such as Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, among others, in 540 operations,” the note says.
According to Paulo Kakinoff, president of Gol, the agreement “will strengthen our presence in foreign markets and boost our long-term growth”. The current network serves 88 destinations in Brazil and 16 international destinations operated by Gol, in addition to 149 international destinations through codeshare agreements.