Air France, KLM and GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes celebrated last Monday (19) the strategic partnership of success that already lasts four years. The agreement, which allowed companies to reach new markets, expanding connections between South America and Europe, provided even more comfort and ease in the travel experience to the nearly 800,000 passengers transported through flights shared between companies in this period . Today, companies serve 99% of the demand between countries.
Announced at the end of last year, the new HUB Nordeste, which starts operating from May 3 this year at the airport Pinto Martins, in Fortaleza, brings more strength to the partnership.
In total, the agreement between the airs already offers more than 39 cities of Brazil and South America and 64 European destinations. Together they have more than 900 shared flights and fly to 18 countries: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, France, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Turkey, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Norway and Holland. In addition, currently, one in four passengers traveling from Air France or KLM connect to GOL on their way to and from the airport, with the segments covered by the alliance having a combination of GOL aircraft in Brazilian cities and Air France and KLM, in the international ones. This proportion should increase with the inauguration of Air France-KLM flights departing from Fortaleza
“Since February 2014, our partnership with GOL shows a strong evolution in team synergy, as well as optimization in the customer experience. By 2017, connection traffic between companies was three times higher compared to the start of the agreement. The codeshare in our Paris and Amsterdam hubs, with São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, was already aimed at making the partnership the first choice for customers in terms of convenience and comfort of products and services, and Hub Nordeste based on Fortaleza, we further strengthen this strategy and our presence in the Latin American market, “says Jean-Marc Pouchol, Managing Director Air France KLM for South America.
“For GOL, this alliance has brought over the years important business enhancements and especially customer convenience when traveling in an integrated and unique way. Certainly the novelty of the hub in the northeast will provide even more connections to the north and northeast of the country with Europe, where we will increase our seating supply by more than 35% in the region to meet this new flow of travel. We will have new flights to Recife, Salvador, Belem, Manaus, as well as a new route to Natal, and a total of 51 daily flights to 10 destinations in the country, generating a significant increase in our offer to and from the capital of Ceará, “ends Celso Ferrer , GOL’s vice president of planning.
Expansion in the Northeast
One of the main goals of the companies during the development of the project was to reduce the connection time in Fortaleza to the maximum, in order to optimize the time of the passenger in the airport and to the final destination. GOL’s network in Natal, Recife, Salvador, Brasilia, Belém and Manaus was adapted to better serve Air France KLM flights in Fortaleza. The expectation is that, with the development of the HUB, the number of destinations served by Air France-KLM and GOL, through Fortaleza, will increase further.
Driven by the great success of sales, Air France has already increased frequencies from the capital of Ceará, totaling three flights a week to Paris, along with three from KLM to Amsterdam. To meet demand, GOL recently announced daily operations to the United States, departing from Fortaleza and also from Brasilia.
Advantages for the consumer
Among the advantages offered to passengers is the benefit of purchasing a single ticket, even in connecting flights, as well as the ease of only one check-in, the receipt of boarding passes at one time for the entire route and one only baggage dispatch, which reduces customer time at the airport. The franchise is the same throughout the trip.
Photo: Reproduction