Brazilian carriers Gol and Azul have agreed to connect their networks through a codeshare partnership for domestic flights.
The two competing airlines said on 23 May that the agreement covers “all domestic routes operated exclusively, meaning routes operated by one of the two companies but not the other”.
“This agreement will bring enormous benefits to our customers,” says Azul’s president Abhi Shah. “Azul’s highly connected network serving most cities in Brazil, and Gol’s strong presence on the main Brazilian markets, our complementary service offerings will offer our customers the broadest range of travel options in the market.”
“Gol and Azul have always been dedicated to expanding the Brazilian aviation market,” adds Gol chief executive Celso Ferrer. “This codeshare agreement will provide customers with even more travel options across our country.”
The carriers say that combined, they operate about 1,500 daily departures and the agreement will create ”over 2,700 travel opportunities with just one connection”.
Last month Brazilian media reported that the two carriers were working on a merger or acquisition agreement, after Gol filed for bankruptcy protection in a US court in January to work its way through a restructuring. The reports had suggested Azul has recruited financial advisers to look at a possible combination with Gol.
On Azul’s first-quarter earnings call on 13 May, chief executive John Rodgerson would not comment on the news reports, and said, ”We believe strongly in what Azul is building. We believe strongly in what we have going forward.”
He did, however, add, “We are big fans of consolidation and that’s also something we have been pretty open about for the last five years or so. So we’ll see what happens going forward. There is a process in place and we are watching very closely and that’s all we can really say.”
The US court handling Gol’s bankruptcy filing has granted the carrier’s request to access up to $1 billion of debtor financing which the airline will use for ”among other things, designated working capital expenditures, general corporate needs, and restructuring-related costs”.
All passenger service, Gollog cargo flights, its loyalty programme and other operations are continuing during the restructuring process.
Gol is the fourth Latin American carrier to file for bankruptcy in the wake of the disruptive Covid-19 crisis. In 2020, Aeromexico, Avianca and LATAM Airlines all used the Chapter 11 process to restructure their finances.
