Alitalia has signed a codeshare agreement with one of Brazil's biggest airlines Azul.
As part of this agreement, customers can connect to Azul’s domestic network when flying Alitalia into and out of São Paulo (Guarulhos) and Rio de Janeiro (Galeão).
Fabio Maria Lazzerini, chief business officer at Alitalia, said: "Alitalia is always seeking new partnerships that provide our passengers with the best travel experience when flying to an increasingly larger number of destinations.
"This new cooperation agreement significantly enlarges our presence in Brazil, a key market which presents great growth opportunities for the airline, because of the significant presence of the Italian community, and where we operate 42 weekly inbound and outbound flights, thanks to the double-daily service to São Paulo and the daily service to Rio de Janeiro."
The news of the codeshare agreement comes after it was announced that the struggling carrier had been granted a €400 million fund by Italy in a bid to rescue the airline from financial collapse – which it has flirted with for many years.