TAM Begins New Flights to the United States From Rio de Janeiro

SAO PAULO, Brazil, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TAM (NYSE: TAM and Bovespa: TAMM4) will begin two direct flights between Rio de Janeiro and the United States. The company's passengers may fly these new routes in Executive or Economy class.

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"Rio de Janeiro's market is strategic for TAM. Therefore we are increasingly investing in the services we provide. The Rio de Janeiro-Miami and Rio de Janeiro-New York flights demonstrate our commitment to continued service to this public," says Paulo Castello Branco, Commercial and Planning Vice President for TAM. Boeing 767-300 Aircraft, with a seating capacity of 205 passengers, will service the routes.

Flight JJ 8078 will depart the Tom Jobim International Airport (Galeao state), in Rio de Janeiro, at 11:15 p.m. (local time), Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. It will fly directly to the John Fitzgerald Kennedy International Airport (JFK), in New York, where it will arrive at 6:00 a.m. (local time) on the following day.

The return portion of the flight will be made on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Flight JJ 8079* will depart New York at 4:15 p.m. (local time) and will fly directly to Rio de Janeiro (Galeao state), landing in the Brazilian city at 5:30 a.m. (local time). On Sundays, flight JJ 8075** will depart New York at 8:00 a.m. and will arrive in Rio de Janeiro at 9:15 p.m.

Currently, TAM operates two daily flights to New York, originating from Sao Paulo (Guarulhos state). All stages of the flight are made with A330 aircraft, both on the initial flight and on the return. With the start of this new route, the company now offers 18 weekly flights between Brazil and New York. All flights have connections available.

To Miami, flight JJ 8056 will depart the Confins Airport in Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais state), at 7:30 p.m., arriving at 8:25 p.m. (local time) at the Tom Jobim International Airport (Galeao state), in Rio de Janeiro, from which it will depart at 11:05 p.m. (local time) and fly directly to the Miami International Airport in Florida, landing at 6:30 a.m. (local time) the following day.

The return will be flight number JJ 8057, which will depart Miami at 10:05 p.m. (local time) and fly directly to Rio de Janeiro (Galeao state), where it will arrive at 7:10 a.m. (local time), departing at 9:30 a.m. (local time) and landing in Belo Horizonte (Confins state) at 10:35 a.m. (local time). The stretch between Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro will be operated by the A320 aircraft on both halves of the round trip.

This will be TAM's fourth daily flight to Miami and the company's only one with no connections or layovers to depart from the Rio de Janeiro. TAM already offers two daily flights departing from Sao Paulo (Guarulhos state) -- on Sundays one of them lays over in Salvador (Bahia state) on both portions of the return flight -- and another departing from Manaus. With the new route, there will be 28 regular weekly flights between Brazil and Florida. All flights offer connections.

About TAM:

TAM (www.tam.com.br) has been the domestic market leader since July of 2003, and closed August 2008 with 54.2% of market share. The company flies to 42 destinations in Brazil. Through business agreements signed with regional companies, it reaches 79 different destinations in Brazil. TAM's market share among Brazilian companies that operate international flights stood at 73.9% in August. Operations abroad include TAM flights to 16 destinations in the United States, Europe and South America: New York and Miami (USA), Paris (France), London (England), Milan (Italy), Frankfurt (Germany), Madrid (Spain), Buenos Aires and Bariloche (Argentina), Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia), Santiago (Chile), Asuncion and Ciudad del Este (Paraguay), Montevideo (Uruguay), and Caracas (Venezuela). It has code-share agreements that make possible the sharing of seats on flights with international airlines, enabling passengers to travel to 64 other destinations in the U.S., Europe and South America. A pioneer in Brazil's airline industry with the launch of its Programa Fidelidade frequent flyer program, TAM today has more than 5 million members and has redeemed more than 5.9 million tickets for frequent flyer points.