Emirates has signed a codeshare agreement with Azul that allows passengers to connect to eight cities in Brazil via São Paulo Guarulhos (GRU).

The deal, which has been approved by the Brazilian Federal Aviation Agency, covers Azul-operated flights to and from Belem (BEL), Belo Horizonte (CNF), Cuiaba (CGB), Curitiba (CWB), Juazeiro Do Norte (JDO), Porto Alegre (POA), Recife (REC) and Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont (SDU).

“Brazil is an important market for Emirates and our cooperation with Azul underscores Emirates’ commitment to strengthen our reach in the region and open up more options for our customers,” Emirates CCO Adnan Kazim said.

Abhi Shah, Azul’s chief revenue officer, added: “As the largest airline in Brazil in terms of destinations, this codeshare allows our customers to have unparalleled connectivity in Brazil and around the world.”

Emirates currently operates five flights per week from Dubai (DXB) to São Paulo on its widebody Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Frequencies are set to increase to 6X-weekly from Sept. 12, before daily service is restored from Oct. 5.

According to data provided by Sabre Market Intelligence, Emirates carried about 323,000 passengers between Dubai and São Paulo during 2019. On the leg from GRU to DXB, 50% of passengers flew to destinations beyond the United Arab Emirates hub. About 24% of traffic was bridge, 18% local and the remainder behind.

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