SAO PAULO, Brazil, Nov. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TAM S.A. (BOVESPA: TAMM4, NYSE: TAM), received today the official authorization from the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) to initiate regular daily flights to Italy. TAM obtained this flight based on the increase in the bilateral agreement, authorized this month by the Italian and Brazilian governments.
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The start date and schedule of the new international operation will be opportunely announced by TAM. All necessary measures to initiate the flight in the first half of 2007 are already in place.
Milan will be the third destination that TAM flies to in Europe. This flight will depart from Sao Paulo. The company already flies to Paris (currently twice a day and, as of January 12 2007, three times a day) and London.
The strategy adopted by TAM in the international segment is to grow selective in profitable markets. According to ANAC, TAM ended last October with 58.2% market share among the Brazilian companies that operate in the international market.
"The flight to Italy will strengthen our international network because it is a destination that attracts both business and leisure passengers, and also is another entrance to Europe," said Marco Antonio Bologna, TAM's CEO. Brazil has a huge Italian community, composed by 25 million descendants, of which 15 million live in the State of Sao Paulo.
Also in the international market, TAM will start its second daily flight to New York, as of December 15, operates three daily flights to Miami, one departing from Fortaleza (Ceara) with connections in Belem (Para) and Manaus (Amazonas). Once a week, the flight to Miami that leaves from Sao Paulo stops in Salvador. In South America, TAM has 49 weekly flights to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and will operate the second daily flight to Santiago, Chile as of January 2. Through TAM Mercosur, it operates to six other destinations: Asuncion and Ciudad del Este (Paraguay), Montevideo and Punta del Este (Uruguay), Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Cochabamba (Bolivia). The company also has a daily flight to Lima, in Peru, through a code-share operation with Taca.
About TAM:
TAM (http://www.tam.com.br/) has been the leader in the Brazilian domestic market for more than three years, and held a 51.1% domestic market share and 58.2% international market share at the end of October 2006. TAM operates regular flights to 48 destinations throughout Brazil. It serves 74 different cities in the domestic market through regional alliances. Additionally, it maintains code-share agreements with international airline companies that allow passengers to travel to a large number of destinations throughout the world. TAM was the first Brazilian airline company to launch a loyalty program. Currently, the program has over 3.3 million subscribers and has awarded more than 3.6 million tickets.
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