- Establishes pathway to strategic partnership of Air Canada and Abra Group and a joint business agreement
- Customers will benefit from an improved travel experience, expanded loyalty benefits, and enhanced cargo services
- Enables revenue sharing and deeper commercial integration, including expanded codeshare
RIO DE JANEIRO, June 07, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Air Canada and Abra Group today announced they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop a broad, long-term strategic partnership. The agreement between Canada’s largest airline and the Latin American air transport company, whose carriers include the Avianca and GOL brands, would enable the partners to expand their global reach, providing customers and shippers greater connectivity across North, Central and South America and beyond. Any final agreement is subject to final documentation and regulatory approval.
“Air Canada and Abra Group are building the foundations for an enhanced partnership that will further unlock the Americas. With Latin America acting as a fast-growing and strategic component of Air Canada’s global presence, our customers to and from the region have long benefited from existing codeshare partnerships with Abra Group. Building from a highly complementary presence across the Americas, this Memorandum of Understanding between our world-class airlines creates a pathway to further bolster our partnership, improve the customer experience, and enhance global connectivity. We look forward to working alongside Abra Group to deliver meaningful value to our customers and partners,” said Mark Galardo, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, and President of Cargo at Air Canada.
Angus Clarke, Chief Commercial Officer at Abra commented: “This milestone agreement with Air Canada reinforces our ambition to redefine connectivity across the Americas and beyond. At Abra Group, we believe in building seamless, integrated networks that bring people, cultures, and economies closer together. Our complementary strengths with Air Canada expand travel options and create a more connected hemisphere, unlocking new opportunities for our customers, our partners, and the regions we serve. This is a significant step toward shaping a more accessible and dynamic aviation ecosystem.”
Mary-Jane Lorette, Vice President, Revenue Management, Partnerships and International Affairs at Air Canada, added: “The Canada–South America market is accelerating, and we are investing to capture this momentum, expanding into key markets such as Lima, Santiago and Rio de Janeiro, with further growth ahead in Quito while building on our strong foundation with Avianca through Star Alliance and our long-standing collaboration with GOL to shape connectivity across the Americas and unlock greater value for our customers.”
Partnership highlights
Under the proposed strategic partnership, which is subject to the negotiation of final documentation and regulatory approval, Air Canada and Abra would:
- Expand global reach by strengthening connectivity between Canada and key Latin America markets, with broader access to international markets;
- Deepen commercial integration through coordinated sales and distribution;
- Establish a Joint Business Agreement on select Canada-Latin America routes, to enable deeper commercial integration;
- Expand codeshare cooperation across the Americas and beyond, including for travel between Latin America and other international markets via Canadian gateways;
- Enhance the Customer Experience to provide more seamless travel, including coordinated airport services, smoother connections, aligned baggage policies, and improved disruption management;
- Strengthen frequent flyer cooperation, delivering increased earning and redemption opportunities and improved recognition across both networks;
- Explore greater cargo collaboration, including opportunities to offer more seamless and efficient solutions across key markets in the Americas in support of growing trade flows.
About Air Canada
Air Canada is Canada’s largest airline, the country’s flag carrier and a founding member of Star Alliance, the world’s most comprehensive air transportation network. Headquartered in Montréal, Air Canada provides scheduled service directly to more than 180 airports in Canada, the United States and Internationally on six continents. It holds a Four-Star ranking from Skytrax. Air Canada’s Aeroplan program is Canada’s premier travel loyalty program, with more than 10 million members worldwide. Members can earn or redeem points on the world’s largest airline partner network of 50 airlines, plus through an extensive range of merchandise, hotel and car rental partners. Through Air Canada Vacations, it offers a selection of vacation and Flight & Hotel packages, tours, cruises, car rentals, excursions, and a variety of activities and experiences. Its freight division, Air Canada Cargo, provides air freight lift and connectivity to hundreds of destinations across six continents using Air Canada’s passenger and freighter aircraft. Air Canada’s climate-related ambition includes a long-term aspirational goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. For additional information, please see Air Canada’s TCFD disclosure. Air Canada shares are publicly traded on the TSX (AC) in Canada and the OTCQX (ACDVF) in the US.
About Abra Group
Abra is a leading air transportation company across Latin America that brings together the iconic Avianca and GOL airline brands, along with a strategic investment in Wamos Air, on a unified, pan-Latin American platform. The Company also encompasses leading loyalty programs (LifeMiles and Smiles) and robust cargo operations. In addition, Abra holds convertible debt representing a minority ownership interest in Sky Airline.
Avianca, the second-oldest airline in the world, operates a fleet primarily comprised of A320 and B787 passenger aircraft, as well as cargo aircraft. GOL, one of Brazil’s leading airlines, operates a fleet largely composed of B737 passenger aircraft. Wamos Air is a leading European provider of wide-body Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance (ACMI) services, operating A330 passenger aircraft. Abra has approximately 30,000 employees and operates a fleet of more than 300 aircraft, with scheduled flights serving more than 25 countries and over 145 destinations. For more information, visit www.abragroup.net
Contacts:
[email protected]
[email protected]
Internet:
aircanada.com/media
ABRA Group – Newsroom – News
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/72d10b64-f8d1-49c5-bbfa-7e9b75bbec5b
