Qatar Airways to expand in Brazil

Under the agreement, Qatar Airways will add its QR airline code to GOL flights between Sao Paulo and 47 Brazilian destinations. Qatar Airways currently operates daily non-stop scheduled services between its Doha hub and Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo.
 
Code share cities within the agreement are: Aracaju, Bauru, Belém, Brasília, Boa Vista, Cuiabá, Campo Grande, Chapecó, Belo Horizonte (Confins), Campinas, Campina Grande, Curitiba, Caxias do Sul, Cruzeiro do Sul, Fernando de Noronha, Florianópolis, Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro (Galeão and Santos Dumont airports).
 
Other Brazilian cities included are Goiânia, Foz do Iguaçu, Imperatriz, Ilhéus, Juazeiro do Norte, Joinville, João Pessoa, Londrina, Marabá, Manaus, Macapá, Maceió, Maringá, Natal, Navegantes, Palmas, Petrolina, Porto Alegre, Porto Seguro, Porto Velho, Presidente Prudente, Rio Branco, Recife, São Luís, Salvador, Santarém, Teresina, Uberlândia and Vitória.
 
Passengers on Qatar Airways’ own network will be able to connect to and from any one of the 47 designated Brazilian cities via Sao Paulo.
 
The QR flight code is applied on the entire journey whether passengers are travelling to or from Qatar Airways’ network points such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, Osaka, Singapore, Beijing, Delhi, Muscat or Dubai.
In compliance with standard regulation requirements in Brazil, both airlines have filed a joint application with Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency and Brazilian Antitrust Agency, seeking approval for the agreement. A date for the code share implementation has yet to be determined.

Both airlines are also working on concluding an agreement linking their respective frequent flyer programmes – Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club and GOL’s SMILES scheme, allowing any member to earn and redeem miles on all flights operated by both carriers.
 
Qatar Airways chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker said: “Six months ago, Qatar Airways made an historic entry into South America with non-stop flights to Sao Paulo from Doha and, in doing so, opened up many opportunities for passengers wanting to fly from across our extensive network to Brazil.

“Today, we are delighted to extend our reach even further across Brazil, South America’s largest country through this exciting partnership with GOL and provide passengers with seamless travel options.”

Qatar Airways operates its flagship Boeing 777-200 Long Range aircraft between Doha and Sao Paulo Guarulhos International Airport, with a capacity of 42 seats in Business Class and 217 in Economy.