São Paulo, September 26, 2017 - GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. ("GOL" or "Company"), (NYSE: GOL and B3: GOLL4), Brazil's #1 airline, confirmed today the selection of Fortaleza as its new joint hub with Air France-KLM. From May 2018, GOL will increase its seat offering in Fortaleza by 35% with the new international hub, with 51 daily flights to 10 destinations from the capital of Ceará.
Currently, GOL already offers the best options in the market to connect clients from the northern bases (Manaus and Belém) to the northeast (Fortaleza, Natal, Recife and Salvador), where the Company is already a leader in participation and supply. The hub in Fortaleza was intended by GOL and its strategic partner, Air France-KLM, to meet the demand of customers who travel both work and leisure. The new flights will be structured in two periods of connections, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, at times convenient for customers.
"We are going to improve our network in Fortaleza to provide fast and efficient connections with Air France and KLM flights. We will adjust the schedules and increase the offer to Recife, Salvador, Belém and Manaus, as well as a new route to Natal and we will offer clients traveling from the north and northeast to Europe, or for those who come to visit Brazil, an experience with several benefits at every stage of the trip", explained Paulo Kakinoff, GOL's CEO. "This is another important step we take in our strategic partnership, which has been in place for three years", he added. The Company has a fleet of 120 Boeing 737 aircraft.
The new hub in Fortaleza will also enable Air France-KLM to pursue its development strategy in Brazil and will simultaneously link Fortaleza to its two main hubs at Amsterdam-Schiphol and Paris-Charles de Gaulle as of May 2018. These new routes will be operated respectively by KLM with 3 weekly flights and Air France with 2 weekly flights. Customers of GOL and Air France-KLM will benefit from easier connections, seamless service and a wider choice of medium and long-haul destinations. With this new network, customers will also benefit from single check-in throughout their trip and a guaranteed baggage tracking service.
"By launching flights to Fortaleza, operated by two of the group's airlines, we are once again confirming our position as a leader on the local market. This new transatlantic offer, a meeting point between South America and Europe, makes Fortaleza a strategic hub that will make our customers' trips easier and greatly increase their connecting opportunities in the region", said Jean-Marc Janaillac, Chairman and CEO of Air France-KLM. "This project has been made possible thanks to the strength of our partnership with GOL. Its network will provide our customers with a wider choice of destinations to and from North and North-East Brazil", he concluded.