Air France - KLM and GOL become Commercial Partners

Jean-Cyril Spinetta, Chairman of Air France - KLM and Constantino de Oliveira Junior, CEO of GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A., which comprises the GOL and Varig brands, signed a commercial cooperation agreement in Sao Paulo on Friday.

The agreement will enable the 15 million customers who are members of Air France and KLM’s “Flying Blue” and GOL’s 6 million “Smiles” frequent flyer programmes to have access to new Frequent Flyers benefits and destinations.

Beginning 1 May, Flying Blue members can earn Miles on all GOL and Varig flights. Reciprocally, Smiles cardholders can earn Miles on Air France and KLM’s networks. Then, as of 1 July, they will all be able to use their Miles as award tickets on all three airlines (Air France, KLM, GOL/Varig).

To celebrate this agreement, Flying Blue cardholders will double their Miles on all GOL/Varig flights between 1 May and 31 July 2009. Similarly, Smiles members will be able to double their Miles when travelling on Air France and KLM flights over the same period.

The agreement also makes provision for the implementation of codesharing. It has been agreed that by mid 2009, Air France will be adding its code to GOL flights between Sao Paulo & Rio de Janeiro and thirteen major Brazilian cities: Belem, Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Campinas, Curitiba, Florianopolis, Fortaleza, Iguassu Falls, Manaus, Porto Alegre, Recife, Salvador and Vitoria. The number of cities concerned in Brazil could be increased in the next few months. A similar agreement is being prepared between KLM and GOL.

Together, the three airlines offer 3,300 daily flights to nearly 300 destinations in 114 countries.

“Air France and KLM offer excellent services between Brazil, South America’s largest economic power and tourist destination, and Paris-Charles de Gaulle & Amsterdam-Schiphol, and the rest of Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia” declared Jean-Cyril Spinetta. “Our customers travelling to and from Brazil will have an unrivalled choice of destinations and schedules, which reflects our group’s strategic positioning: to ensure the best possible services between Europe and the rest of the world. By developing our network and airline partnerships, we will be able to cope better with the economic crisis.”

GOL, one of Brazil’s largest airlines, offers nearly 800 daily flights to 49 destinations connecting the most important cities in Brazil and ten major destinations in South America. The company operates a young, modern fleet of Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft.

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