Turkish, Brazilian airline firms sign codesharing agreement

ISTANBUL (A.A) - December 15, 2011 - Turkey's national flag carrier has signed a codesharing agreement with a Brazilian airline company, a company statement said on Thursday. Under the agreement, Turkish Airlines (THY) and Brazil's TAM Airlines will be able to market designated flights on the partner airline.  The codeshare agreement enables Turkish Airlines to use its marketing flight code "TK" for travel from Sao Paulo to Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Iguassu Falls, Porto Alegre and Brasilia on flights which are operated by TAM. In addition, "TK" marketing flight code will be added to flights from Sao Paulo to Madrid. Also, TAM Airlines will be able to put its marketing flight code "JJ" on Turkish Airlines' flights between Istanbul -Sao Paulo and Istanbul –Madrid. This agreement will allow Turkish Airlines' passengers direct access to more destinations in Brazil and Argentina.  TAM Airlines operates direct flights to 43 destinations in Brazil and 19 cities in Latin America, the United States and Europe. Brazil will host the next FIFA World Cup, in 2014, and the Olympic Games in 2016. Turkish Airlines is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey, headquartered in Istanbul. It operates scheduled services to 146 international and 41 domestic cities (38 domestic airports), serving a total of 187 airports, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.  It carried 30 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2011.