Starting September 19, Brazilian airline TAM will fly direct from Rio de Janeiro to Miami and from November 1st it will have a direct flight from Rio to New York. Passengers will be able to fly these new routes in executive or economy class.
Flight JJ 8078 will depart the Tom Jobim International Airport (Galeão), 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 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 (Galeão ), 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 São Paulo (Guarulhos ). 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 (Galeão ), 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 (Galeão), 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 ) 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 Rio. TAM already offers two daily flights departing from São Paulo (Guarulhos ) – 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.
"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.