Delta Air Lines and Aerolineas Argentinas have announced a codesharing agreement for flights connecting Miami and Atlanta to Buenos Aires as well as service to 14 U.S. destinations, eight domestic destinations in Argentina, three flights to Canada and flights to Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. Codesharing on the flights will start in the fourth quarter of 2011, subject to government approvals.
The airlines also announced future activation of new reciprocal benefits for their frequent fliers that include accrual and redemption of miles, scheduled to start in 2012. Aerolineas Argentinas will also join the SkyTeam global alliance in 2012, which will allow the carriers to provide additional customer benefits.
When implemented, the agreement will connect Delta’s daily service from its hub in Atlanta to the Aerolineas Argentinas hub at Buenos Aires and beyond to cities in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. It also includes flights connecting Aerolineas Argentinas service from Buenos Aires to Miami with flights to 15 cities in the U.S. and Canada on Delta’s network.
Delta will sell connecting service on Aerolineas Argentinas flights to eight Argentine destinations: Calafate, Cordoba, Iguazu, Mendoza, Rio Grande, Rosario, San Carlos de Bariloche, and Ushuaia, the capital city of Tierra del Fuego Province.
Additional destinations in South America include Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil; Santa Cruz, Bolivia; Santiago de Chile, Chile; Asuncion, Paraguay; and Montevideo, Uruguay.
Aerolineas Argentinas will sell service to 14 additional U.S. destinations and three Canadian destinations. The U.S. domestic destinations are Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Juan, Seattle and Washington, D.C. Aerolineas Argentinas also will put its code on Delta service to Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver in Canada.
Delta and Aerolineas Argentinas will also introduce reciprocal accrual and redemption benefits for frequent fliers in 2012. SkyMiles and Aerolineas Plus members will be able to accrue and redeem frequent flier miles on all Delta and Aerolineas Argentinas flights. The airlines already offer reciprocal access to their lounges.
Delta Air Lines, www.delta.com; Aerolineas Argentinas, www.aerolineas.com