TAM Aeromexico in Codeshare Deal

A strong aviation market outlook for 2012 is quite precise and encouraging for the airline industry worldwide. Leveraging on such an outlook, the operating companies continue with their effort to increase the number of flights and connections among high-demand flight stoppages. A strategic option in this regard is thus facilitating to establish partnerships and agreements with market leaders. Brazilian airline leader TAM S.A ( TAM ) andMexico’s largest transcontinental airline Aeromexico uphold such optimism via a strategic code sharing deal.

Early this week, TAM inked a code share agreement with Aeroméxico. The deal is targeted to provide travel route for respective passengers between Mexico and Brazil. According to the agreement, flights of the two carriers will connect passenger routes from Mexico City with Sao Paulo effective from April 23.

The route network will ensure passenger safety with the option of connecting Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Brasilia, Fortaleza, Belo Horizonte, Florianópolis, Curitiba, Recife and Porto Alegre, out of the total 43 destinations.

On the other hand, passengers traveling from Sao Paulo will be allowed to continue their journey forward to destinations, such as Acapulco, León, Ciudad Obregón, Cancún, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Poza Rica, Los Cabos and Veracruz in Mexico. Moreover, other destinations among the 40 cities within Aeroméxico’s route are also added to the network.

The code share deal is anticipated to continue with TAM’s strategy of expansion in the number of passengers, route network as well as demand upsize. Such effort, which started a couple of years ago, has given a tight competition to the flight operators, such as AMR Corporation ( AAMRQ ) and GOL Linhas A ( GOL - Analyst Report ) .

Conversely, the agreement will also allow Mexico’s largest transcontinental airline to further strengthen its presence in Brazil.