Brazilian Airline TAM to start operations in Colombia on December 19th

TAM, the largest Latin American airline, will start its daily Sao Paulo-Bogotá-Sao Paulo flight this coming December 19th on an Airbus 320 offering its passengers business class and coach seats..

“Bogotá is the last of the large markets in South America where we did not operate, and its importance is strategic to TAM,” said Commercial and Planning Vice President, Paulo Castello Branco.

During the Avab 2010 tourist fair which took place in Brazil last October, company executives João Francisco Amaro Filho and José Roberto Pereira visited the PROCOLOMBIA exhibit and expressed the airline’s interest in beginning operations in Colombia.

According to Castello Branco, "Bogotá is a metropolis with an industry, trade, financial and corporate services-based economy, aside from its significant cultural and tourist offering.”

The announcement of TAM's arrival comes almost one month after German airline Lufthansa’s operations reactivation in Colombia on October 30th and the purchase of Aires by Chilean airline LAN.

According to the Colombian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism’s figures, as of the 2009 closing there were 47,493 passengers coming from Brazil, which represents a growth of 4,4% with respect to the previous year, which observed 45,506 tourist arrivals. Brazilian participation reached 4,4% between January and July 2010, after registering 3,4% within the same period in 2009.