Air France KLM & Gol/VARIG Sign Commercial Cooperation Agreement

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Today, Jean-Cyril Spinetta, chairman of Air France KLM and Constantino de Oliveira Jr., CEO of Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A., which comprises the Gol and VARIG brands, signed a commercial cooperation agreement in São Paulo.

This agreement will enable the 15 million customers who are members of Air France and KLM’s “Flying Blue” and Gol’s 6 million “Smiles” frequent flyer programs to have access to new Frequent Flyers benefits and destinations.

Beginning May 1, Flying Blue members can earn miles on all Gol and VARIG flights. Reciprocally, Smiles cardholders can earn miles on Air France and KLM’s networks. Then, as of July 1, they will all be able to use their miles as award tickets on all three airlines (Air France, KLM, Gol/VARIG).

To mark this agreement, Flying Blue cardholders will double their miles on all Gol/VARIG flights between May 1 and July 31. Similarly, Smiles members will be able to double their Miles when traveling on Air France and KLM flights over the same period.

The agreement also makes provision for the implementation of codesharing. It has been agreed that by mid 2009, Air France will be adding its code to Gol flights between São Paulo & Rio de Janeiro and 13 major Brazilian cities. The number of cities concerned in Brazil could be increased in the next few months. A similar agreement is being prepared between KLM and Gol.