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Qatar Airways to expand in Brazil

Direct News Source

06-Jan-2011 Qatar Airways is expanding its presence across Brazil following a code share agreement signed with one of the country's largest airlines, GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes.

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 seamlessly connect to and from any one of the 47 designated Brazilian cities via Sao Paulo.

Whether flying to or from Qatar Airways' network points such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, Osaka, Singapore, Beijing, Delhi, Muscat or Dubai, the QR flight code is applied on the entire journey.

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.

With a 2-2-2 configuration in Business Class, the aircraft has one seat less per row than competitors on the route, offering more space and comfort for each and every passenger. And in Economy Class, the 3-3-3 spacious configuration also has one less seat per row than competitors.

Qatar Airways operates a modern fleet of 94 aircraft to 95 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America. By 2013, the airline will serve 120 destinations with a modern fleet of 120 aircraft.

Over the next two months, the Doha-based airline will begin flights to the Romanian capital Bucharest (January 17); the capital city of Hungary, Budapest (January 17); Belgium's capital Brussels (January 31); and German's car manufacturing centre of Stuttgart (March 6).