LATAM Airlines and Finnair announced on Wednesday a codeshare agreement that will go into effect on October 1st. The two airlines, which do not fly to their main hubs, will use five airports in Europe to offer shared flights. They are London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona and Milan, which have LATAM flights to Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Santiago de Chile.
Finnair, in turn, will offer flights from these cities to Helsinki, from where passengers can travel to other destinations served by the Finnish airline.
“We continue as the airline that most connects Brazil with the world and this partnership with Finnair adds to our airline network important destinations, expanding the options for our passenger to travel for pleasure or business in northern Europe,” says Jerome Cadier, CEO of LATAM Brazil.
“We are excited to be able to offer these great new destinations for our customers,” says Philip Lewin, Head of Partnerships and Alliances at Finnair. “We also welcome LATAM customers to explore everything Helsinki and Finnair has to offer.”
“As part of our commitment to connecting Latin America with the world, this new agreement will offer our passengers easier access to the exciting destinations in Finland via Helsinki,” says Soledad Berrios, Director of Strategic Alliances at LATAM Airlines Group. “We also look forward to welcoming Finnair customers onboard and offering them the chance to experience our Latin American hospitality.”
CEO change
The South American continent does not currently have direct flights to Scandinavia. SAS even flew to Brazil for several years, but discontinued its flight in 1991 while Varig maintained a frequency via London to Copenhagen until the early 2000s. Distance and restricted demand, however, make it difficult to launch direct flights.
LATAM is the largest international airline in South America following the merger between Lan Chile and TAM. The Santiago-based group has been headed by Enrique Cueto for 25 years, the family that controls the company.
The executive, however, will leave office on March 31, 2020 and will be replaced by Roberto Alvo Milosawlewitsch, current Commercial Vice President.
