Portugalia to Decide Sky Team Signup by the End of 2004

PGA-Portugalia Airlines is to make a decision by the end of this year on whether it will join the Sky Team airline alliance. The Portuguese air carrier’s president, Joao Riberiro de Fonseca, mentioned his company’s compatibility with Air France and KLM, two of the merger’s leading airlines.

Portugalia’s intention to join Sky Team stems from its increasingly deteriorated relations with TAP Air Portugal, a situation that could lead to the cancellation of all accords signed by the two companies.

According to Mr. Fonseca, TAP’s entry to Star Alliance last June has thrown a wrench on any possible understanding between the two fellow air carriers.

By signing up for Star Alliance, Portugalia will have to forget about its share of the Spanish market, a move that Mr. Fonseca is unlikely to make. “Spain accounts for a quarter of our operations. So, that’s simply out of the question,” he added.

Spanair, a Spanish airline that’s part of Star Alliance, is weighing the signing of a codeshare agreement with TAP. Would the accord be finally inked, Portugalia would be ruled out of the booking system because all codeshare agreements only take two companies. ”Nobody makes reservations on an airline that doesn’t exist. We’ll be doomed,” Mr. Fonseca claimed.

Portugalia is willing to hold on to its current flight schedule that includes cities in seven Spanish locations, seven French burgs, three towns of northern Italy and a couple of Swiss cities.