LATAM Inks Partnership Deals With BA and American

South America’s largest airline group hopes new pacts with the parent companies of British Airways and American Airlines will allow passengers access to hundreds of new destinations around the globe.

Separate agreements between LATAM and the parent companies of American Airlines and British Airways could considerably extend the reach of the large South American Airline group. In turn, American Airlines and British Airways hope to gain greater access to LATAM’s extensive route system across Latin America. Flight Global reports that the just announced agreements could give LATAM codeshare access to more than 200 destinations in the U.S. and over 87 airports throughout Europe.

“Through these two agreements, we seek to significantly improve the benefits to our clients by providing them with greater connectivity between South America and the United States/Canada and also between South America and Europe,” LATAM CEO Enrique Cueto wrote in a statement announcing the agreements. “This step is necessary to offer the best network of connections for everyone in Latin America and increases the possibility of adding new routes and direct flights to new destinations as well as flights already operated by LATAM and affiliates in the future.”

The agreement between LATAM and British Airways parent company IAG comes slightly more than two months after the South American airline group issued a statement denying the two companies were negotiating a possible merger deal. “In regards to recent media reports, LATAM Airlines Group clarifies that it is not in discussions with International Airlines Group (IAG) about the possibility of their joining LATAM Airlines Group,” LATAM officials insisted at the time.

Both the partnership deals with American Airlines and IAG will require additional regulatory approval before being finalized. LATAM officials say it could be as long as 18 months before passengers start to see the benefits of the new agreements.

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