Virgin Atlantic and Latam airlines have signed a codeshare agreement that allows customers to “fly seamlessly” to Brazil.
Customers booking through Virgin Atlantic can travel from Heathrow to São Paulo on Latam’s direct route from January 20. Connecting onwards, customers can also travel to a further 12 domestic airports in Brazil including Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Florianopolis.
Those travelling from São Paulo to Heathrow will have the option to connect onto Virgin Atlantic’s worldwide destinations through Terminal 3, including Tel Aviv, Delhi and Hong Kong.
Virgin Atlantic had planned to launch flights from Heathrow to São Paulo in March 2020 and had released fares for its service. However, global travel restrictions led the airline to push back the route launch until its decision to withdraw the service in response to the impact of Covid-19.
Virgin’s chief commercial officer Juha Jarvinen said: “As we recover from the pandemic, partnerships are more important than ever, and we look forward to building on the incredibly successful interline relationship we have had in place for a number of years. We also see opportunities beyond Brazil and look forward to expanding our relationship even further to serve destinations throughout South America including Peru and Colombia.”
He added: “This new partnership aims to responds to the large, fast-growing demand for leisure travellers looking to enjoy new experiences after a challenging 20 months. We know there is pent-up demand for long-haul travel and we look forward to welcoming customers onboard their way to exploring these exciting and vibrant Brazilian cities.”
Jarvinen also hopes to capture demand from business travellers. He added: “As global economies gradually recover from the impact of the pandemic, we also expect to capture demand from corporate travel heading to São Paulo, the commercial capital of Brazil as well as other key business hubs in South America.”