Qatar Airways signed a new codeshare agreement with Brazilian air carrier LATAM Airlines Brasil and expanded its connectivity in the South American region. The agreement, signed on January 4, 2021, builds on the strategic partnership of the two airlines, which was initially set up in 2016.
Akbar Al Baker, the CEO of Qatar Airways, outlined that the airline is currently focused on South American routes, as it views the region to be “a strategically important market”. According to the CEO, the expanded partnership will allow the air carrier to add over 40 domestic and international destinations through LATAM’s network, including Brasilia, Curitiba, Porto Velho, Rio Branco, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Jose, Lima (Peru), Montevideo (Uruguay), and Santiago (Chile).
The Brazilian air carrier will place Qatar Airways code on 45 additional LATAM Airlines routes.
Qatar Airways will operate 10 weekly flights to ant out of LATAM base in Sao Paulo as well as to provide LATAM’s passengers a possibility to book flights on 8 additional routes, including Bangkok, Hong Kong, Maldives, Nairobi, Seoul, and Tokyo along with additional connecting flights to destinations such as Baku, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. According to the Qatar Airways announcement, the airline plans to operate LATAM Airlines routes with one of its 53 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft.
Qatar Airways network currently includes approximately 110 destinations. The airline plans to increase it to 129 routes by the end of March 2021.