TAM Airlines is to suspend its flights from Heathrow to Rio de Janeiro from March although it will resume services temporarily during the football World Cup in Brazil in June and July.
The Brazilian airline, which is part of the merged LATAM Group with Chile’s LAN, currently flies three times per week on the Heathrow-Rio route using a Boeing 767-300 ER.
This service will be stopped from March 17, although the route will resume temporarily from June 3 to July 19 for the World Cup period when it will again operate three times per week. British Airways is the only competitor on the Heathrow-Rio route with daily flights.
TAM will continue to operate its daily services from Heathrow to Sao Paulo in Brazil.
“After analysing items such as efficiency, demand and route costs, the airline chose to make the adjustment in order to drive load factors and profitability on its international routes,” said TAM in a statement.
“In order to meet the high demand anticipated for the months of June and July, the airline expects to resume the three current weekly services between Rio de Janeiro and London over the summer."
Jorge Vilches, head of the international business unit at LATAM , added: “We want to assure passengers flying from London that they can still reach Rio de Janeiro via regular domestic flights from Sao Paulo seven days a week.
“We are configuring the operation in our connections centre to ensure the layover impacts as little as possible on the journey time so that passengers can enjoy the best possible flight experience.”
The airline said in a statement: “Customers who have previously acquired tickets are advised to contact the sales, loyalty and service centre in order to change their flights or request a full refund."
To contact TAM about these changes call 020 8741 2005.
TAM is due to join the Oneworld alliance on March 31 when it will join sister carrier LAN in the alliance.
tam.com.br