NEW YORK and SAO PAULO, Aug. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq: JBLU), New York's Hometown Airline™, and TAM Airlines, the largest airline in Brazil, today announced a new interline partnership to connect travellers to Brazil and beyond via New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Orlando International Airport.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110404/NY76997LOGO)

TAM offers multiple daily departures from New York (JFK) to Brazil – to both Rio de Janeiro (Galeao) and Sao Paulo (Guarulhos) – as well as twice-daily service between Orlando and Sao Paulo.

JetBlue is the leading domestic airline at JFK, with 150 daily departures to dozens of major cities from its home at the award-winning Terminal 5. At JetBlue's growing Orlando International Airport focus city, where TAM recently doubled its own service, the airline offers service to more than 20 destinations across the United States, Caribbean, and Latin America.

With this new agreement in place, customers will be able to purchase a single e-ticket itinerary, combining flights on both carriers' networks to give them the ease of one-stop ticketing and baggage check-in.

TAM customers can connect onward to numerous JetBlue destinations including Boston; Chicago; Hartford, Conn.; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Newark, N.J.; San Francisco; and Washington, D.C. Similarly, JetBlue customers will enjoy new access to TAM destinations including Asuncion, Paraguay; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Montevideo, Uruguay; Santiago, Chile; plus 45 cities across Brazil.

"We're excited to be partnering with TAM to bring more destinations within reach of our customers," said Scott Resnick, JetBlue's director of airline partnerships. "We look forward to welcoming TAM's customers to the JetBlue experience and to introducing more Americans to the excitement and beauty of Brazil and other TAM destinations throughout South America."

"Brazilians are travelling more frequently to other countries and this partnership is important to enhance our reach in the United States, one of the preferred destinations of our clients," says Nelson Shinzato, TAM Airlines' Planning and Alliances Vice President. "JetBlue clients will enjoy our Spirit to Serve, modern airplanes, and high quality services."

This year, TAM Airlines was named the "Best Airline in South America" and also recognized for "Staff Service Excellence in South America" at the Skytrax World Airline Awards. The winners are decided from a survey conducted annually by the UK based specialist aviation research organization with passengers worldwide. Between July 2010 and May 2011, 18.8 million air travellers from over 100 different nationalities evaluated 200 airlines.

Customers traveling with JetBlue enjoy top-notch amenities including unlimited free snacks and drinks, personal seatback screens with live television and satellite radio, spacious leather seating, the most legroom in coach of any U.S. airline*, and award-winning service from JetBlue's in-flight crewmembers.

Customers may purchase JetBlue-TAM travel through the Global Distribution System (GDS), online travel agencies, by calling TAM reservations at 1-888-2FLYTAM (2359826) or by visiting www.tam.com.br.

About JetBlue Airways
JetBlue is New York's Hometown Airline™ with other focus cities in Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, and Orlando. Known for its award-winning service and free TV as much as its low fares, JetBlue offers the most legroom in coach of any U.S. airline* as well as super-spacious Even More Space seats. JetBlue is also America's first and only airline to offer its own Customer Bill of Rights, with meaningful and specific compensation for customers inconvenienced by service disruptions within JetBlue's control. Visit www.jetblue.com/promise for details. JetBlue serves 66 cities with more than 700 daily flights and later this year plans to introduce service to St. Croix and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands as well as La Romana, Dominican Republic and Liberia, Costa Rica, subject to government approval. With JetBlue, all seats are assigned, all fares are one-way, and an overnight stay is never required. For information or reservations call 1-800-JET-BLUE (1-800-538-2583), TTY/TDD 1-800-336-5530, + 1-801-449-2525 from Brazil, or visit www.jetblue.com.

About TAM Airlines

TAM Airlines (www.tamairlines.com), including Pantanal, operates direct flights to 45 destinations in Brazil and 19 cities in South America, the United States and Europe. Through agreements with companies in Brazil and abroad, TAM's network encompasses a further 92 airports in Brazil and 92 international destinations, including in Asia. The company was founded in 1976 with the promise to its passengers to offer a high quality service at competitive prices. In its first 35 years, celebrated in July 2011, TAM has established itself as Brazil's leading airline, with a domestic market share of 41.7% in June 2011. TAM is also the country's leading carrier among Brazilian airlines that operate international routes, with an 90.6% market share in June 2011. With the largest passenger aircraft fleet in Brazil (156 planes), TAM offers customer service manifested by its 'Spirit to Serve' initiative that seeks to make air travel more accessible to the general public. TAM was the first Brazilian airline to offer a loyalty program, TAM Fidelidade, which has already issued more than 15 million tickets in exchange for points and is part of the Multiplus network, which today has 8.6 million members. Since May 2010, TAM has been a full member of the Star Alliance – the world's largest airline alliance – with its network of over 1,185 destinations across 185 countries.

* Based on average fleet-wide seat pitch

SOURCE JetBlue Airways