Yesterday, Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. (GOL) reported its preliminary traffic figures for September 2009. During the month, Gol recorded a 26.6% yearly growth in air traffic demand due to the increased supply and improved distribution of seats based on the merger between Gol and Varig (VRG), the continued revitalization of the SMILES program -- Latin America's largest mileage program, with more than 6.4 million members and successive fare reductions, which boosted demand sharply in September. Domestic market demand moved up by 36.4% over the same period in 2008 and by 6.5% over August 2009. However, international demand dropped by 22.4% year-on-year due to the reduction in the supply of seats on less profitable international routes. Nevertheless, international demand rose by 21.1% sequentially.   In line with its focus on optimizing operating profitability, the utilization ratio of Gol's operational fleet (measured in block hours) remained ...

Earlier this week, Gol Linhas Aereas (GOL) the first Brazilian low-fare airline, announced the creation of the SMILES credit card through its subsidiary, VRG Linhas Aereas S.A., in partnership with two banks, Brasil SA and Banco Bradesco SA (BBD).

According to the agreement, the banks will issue credit cards to their clients bearing the SMILES air-miles logo and GOL will receive R$252 million (US$129 million) in return. Out of that, 60% will be paid by July 31, 22% will be paid by January 31, 2010 and the remaining 18% will be paid in monthly installments in the first five years.

The company intends to make people familiar with the benefits of SMILES through this initiative, which is indirectly expected to boost its revenue. SMILES loyalty program, the largest mileage program in Latin America, currently has more than 6.2 million clients with up to 100,000 new registrations each

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