October 27, 2015
CHICAGO, Oct. 27, 2015 - Azul Brazilian Airlines, Brazil’s largest carrier by cities served, and United Airlines today announced the expansion of their cooperation by implementing a codeshare agreement, which offers customers easier connections when flying between Brazil and the United States. The codeshare agreement provides customers flying on both airlines a seamless reservations and ticketing process, including boarding pass and baggage check-in to their final destination. This is the first international codeshare agreement in Azul’s history.
Azul has placed its AD code on United flights to eight U.S. destinations, offering convenient flight schedules from many cities in Brazil to Chicago, New York, Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington and Las Vegas. Connections to other U.S. cities are also available via Fort Lauderdale/Miami and Orlando. United has placed its UA code on Azul flights to six destinations in Brazil beyond Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport, offering convenient connections to Goiânia, Belo Horizonte (Confins), Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro (Santos Dumont) and Brasília.
“With this agreement, Azul now reaches a strategic position in the international market. Customers will have more convenience when purchasing tickets from Azul and United under one code, ensuring a seamless experience and a higher level of service with better and faster connections,” said Marcelo Bento, Azul’s Alliances and Planning director.
“Brazil is Latin America’s largest market and is a key market in United’s global route network,” said Tim Cassady, United’s managing director of Alliances. “Our partnership with Azul, which is recognized for its broad route network, the quality of its services and its operational reliability, will further strengthen our ties to this important region and provide exceptional benefits for our customers.”
Frequent-flyer programs - Members of TudoAzul can earn and redeem miles on United’s MileagePlus program when purchasing tickets through Azul’s sales channels. MileagePlus members have been able to earn and redeem points on TudoAzul since last year.
Azul and United – In June 2015, Azul and United announced a long-term strategic partnership in which United acquired an approximate 5 percent stake in Azul. In August, Azul and United announced an interline agreement offering together 6,000 daily flights and more than 350 destinations around the world.
Azul Brazilian Airlines, Brazil’s largest carrier by cities served, has a fleet of 136 aircraft, more than 11,000 employees, more than 900 daily flights to more than 100 destinations, operating one third of all Brazil’s flights. In addition to winning SkyTrax’s Best Low Cost Carrier in South America for five years now, Azul also received an award as the most on-time airline in Brazil from FlightStats in 2013 and from Infraero in 2014. That same year, the company was recognized as the Best Low Cost Airline in the World by CAPA - Centre for Aviation. Learn more at www.flyazul.com.
United Airlines and United Express operate an average of nearly 5,000 flights a day to 352 airports across six continents. In 2014, United and United Express operated nearly two million flights carrying 138 million customers. United is proud to have the world’s most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates more than 700 mainline aircraft, and this year, the airline anticipates taking delivery of 34 new Boeing aircraft, including the 787-9 and the 737-900ER. United is also welcoming 49 new Embraer E175 aircraft to United Express. The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 192 countries via 28 member airlines. Approximately 84,000 United employees reside in every U.S. state and in countries around the world. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United’s parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the NYSE under the symbol UAL.