A Malaysia Airlines A350 prpares for testing in Toulouse (Photo: Airbus)
Last September, LATAM made headlines as it announced an almost two-billion-dollar cash injection from Delta which would see joint collaboration between both carriers across The Americas. Although the deal would inevitably see the South American carrier depart the oneworld Alliance and benefit from Delta’s network instead, the airline is looking to maintain ties with several alliance members.
The latest route involves a codeshare agreement with Malaysian Airlines for select flights from its hub in Kuala Lumpur to Australia and New Zealanad and LATAMs flights from the Southern Pacific region to Santiago as first reported by Business Traveller.
The new codeshare agreement will see the airline codeshare on LATAM’s flights from Santiago to Sydney via Auckland and Santiago to Melbourne. From Malaysian Airlines’ side, flights from Kuala Lumpur to Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne will be included as part of the codeshare.
With this codeshare, both carriers aim to enhance connectivity between South America and Southeast Asia, as the Santiago-based carrier prepares its exit from the oneworld alliance.
The deal with Delta provides wider access to South America for the Atlanta-based carrier, a key region whose aviation footprint is expected to significantly grow in the future. On the other hand, it provided a much-needed improved cash flow generation for LATAM, something which was hard to let pass by after posting heavy losses over the last few years, attributed to recession in Argentina and Brazil as well as an economic slowdown in Chile and Peru, leading to the devaluation of currencies against the U.S. dollar.
Although the new joint venture with Delta would bring new opportunities for connectivity with SkyTeam partners, LATAM doesn’t seem to be letting go of valuable collaborations with oneworld members.
In this way, the South American airline intends to maintain individual partnerships that add value to its passengers and route networks. The airline has manifested the intention of keeping ties with Iberia, British Airways, Qatar Airways, Malaysia Airlines, and Qantas among others by pursuing agreements that would generate codeshares and reciprocate frequent flyer benefits between carriers, however, details are yet to be officially announced.
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