Brazilian carrier TAM will add its first class cabin to flights between London and Sao Paulo from this Friday, ahead of its inauguration into Star Alliance later this year.
The airline already offers first class on flights between Sao Paulo and Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid, New York, Miami and Orlando, as well as routes between Rio and Paris / New York.
TAM says this latest addition, which will see four first class seats added to the carrier’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, reflects “the increase in premium business traffic between the UK and Brazil”.
The first class seat features a fully flat bed in a 1-2-1 layout, with a pitch of 81 inches, width of 18 inches, and a flat bed length of 75 inches. Other features include a 23-inch TV screen and laptop power points, while in-flight food has been devised by Brazilian chef Helena Rizzo of the award-winning restaurant Mani in Sao Paulo.
Passengers will also enjoy complimentary chauffeur-drive transfer to and from Heathrow, within a 65 miles radius of the airport. Only a handful of carriers currently offer this service at Heathrow (for more information see Fly Drive in the November 2009 edition of Business Traveller).
TAM is due to officially join Star Alliance this May, having been mentored through the integration process by United Airlines. Star has been without a Brazilian carrier in its network since 2007, when Varig left the alliance following bankruptcy proceedings. It is believed that TAM will move from its current home at Heathrow T4, to join the majority of the other Star carriers at T1 when it joins the fold.
For more information visit tam.com.br.
Report by Mark Caswell
