United Airlines has sealed a three-way joint business partnership with two Latin American carriers to boost its presence in the region.
It marks an expansion of an existing codesharing partnership with Panama-based Copa Holdings and Colombia’s Avianca.
The tie-up has been agreed in principle between the carriers and is still subject to regulatory approvals.
If approved it will allow the airlines to share revenue and coordinate flight schedules across their respective networks.
The partnership has been a long time in the making.
United’s initial partnership proposal with Avianca was temporarily blocked by a shareholder’s legal challenge but that was dropped last year.
Combined, Avianca and Copa serve nearly 250 destinations.
About 8% of United’s revenue comes from Latin American routes according to its recent third quarter results.
