Let’s have a look at the most important Brazilian aviation news we covered both at the BRAZIL TRAVEL BLOG and its Twitter profile (@brazilblog).

From France we heard of plans for new routes to Brazil at French airline Corsair to fly to Rio de Janeiro.

Two neighbours get a new frequency linking both countries as Avianca’s Rio de Janeiro to Bogotá is becoming a daily flight.

Brazilians eager on a US holiday will soon get a new alternative as Gol is to fly to Miami and Orlando.

Gol acquired one of its main competitors and put an end to Webjet.

Airlines from Avianca Taca group will soon use the name Avianca.

Let’s have a look at the most important Brazilian aviation news we covered both at the BRAZIL TRAVEL BLOG and its Twitter profile (@brazilblog).

We reported on how Brazilian airlines Azul and Trip were about to merge. The news now is that the resulting airline will be called Azul. It is an airline worth knowing about, as it flies to may top tourist destinations in Brazil.

And on the same issue of mergers in the national market, Gol got official approval to buy rival WebJet.

Yet another international airline decides to extend its flight to Brazil to reach Buenos Aires. We gave you the details at Turkish Airlines will fly from São Paulo to Buenos Aires.

Spanish airline Iberia increases its offering to Brazil, as it plans to fly daily from Madrid to Rio de Janeiro. More frequencies linking Madrid and the two most important Brazilian cities.

An important move was announced with Qatar Airways joining the oneworld alliance. We will come back to it as it will have positive repercussions on frequenty flyers. Still on Qatar Airways, and in spite of widespread speculation, the airline didn’t buy Gol.

Aerolíneas Argentinas would like to fly from Buenos Aires to Salvador de Bahia and Porto Seguro, establishing a direct connection between Argentina and Bahia.

And continuing on the same issue of direct connections to South American neighbouring countries, Tam will fly between Rio de Janeiro and Montevideo in Uruguay and Gol announces flight from Córdoba in Argentina to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

The fight for customers on the Brazil to Asia route intensifies as Etihad Airways announces it will fly to Brazil from June 2013.

Brazilian aviation authorities don’t seem to be able to get their act together when it comes to managing airports, and Brazilian airports will be auctioned through the old model.

There’s been a delight on the launching data for American’s inaugural Boeing 777-300ER flight from Dallas to Sao Paulo.

We are being informed that tourism authorities from the state of Bahia are negotiating with Taca airlines a new direct flight between Salvador de Bahia and Lima, the capital of Peru.

Bahia declares its interest on forthcoming Peruvian tourists. But we gather it would rather be Brazilian tourists going to Peru the ones that would make the connection viable from a financial point of view.

It is hard to believe there isn’t a single direct flight from any of Brazil’s South American neighbours to the northeast regionof the country.

If the flight becomes a reality we will let you know here at D AIRFARE.

Aerolíneas Argentinas has become the first South American airline to join the SkyTeam alliance, formed by nearly twenty companies. Among its members, there are several currently flying to Brazil, including Aeroméxico, Air Europa, Air France, Alitalia, Delta Air Lines, KLM, Korean Air and newcomer Aerolíneas Argentinas.

Air Europa promised in March that it would increase its frequencies to Brazil, and it failed to deliver on that promise (Air Europa to increase its frequencies from Madrid to Salvador de Bahia). Now the company is announcing for December 2012 a fourth frequency on its flight from Spain to Brazil.

It would also seem the airline has an eye on Guarulhos international airport in São Paulo. But this being Air Europa any announcement should be treated with a pinch of salt.

Members of Smiles, Gol’s loyalty program, can now accumulate miles while flying Qatar Airways. It is not possible yet to issue tickets to fly Qatar with Smiles points.

If you fly Qatar and you are contemplating accumulating miles on Smiles, pay careful attention to the fare you are buying, as the most affordable booking classes only accumulate 50% of miles.

Gol and Qatar have signed a very basic agreement that does not involve recognition of status on the other company’s loyalty program.

Brazilian airline Gol keeps coming and going. After cancelling a series of international flights it is the turn now for the announcement of new international routes adding on to the new São Paulo to Montevideo flight announced last week.

• Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, will have a direct flight from São Paulo.
• The airline is doubling the number of flights between Porto Alegre and Ezeiza international airport in Buenos Aires.
• A new flight is created linking international airport of Viracopos in Campinas and Ezeiza in Buenos Aires (with a stop-over in Curitiba).
• Frequencies between Campo Grande and Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia are increased while a new direct flight between São Paulo and Santa Cruz de la Sierra is created.

Mexican airline Aeroméxico will beging flying on 4 August from Cancun to Guarulhos international airport in São Paulo with a technical stop in Lima, Peru. The flight takes off from Cancún at 13:40 and lands in São Paulo at 3:00. On the way back, the flight departs from São Paulo at 4:10 and arrives in Cancun at 13:55 (in all cases local time). There will be two weekly flights during the weekends.

The main reason for the new flight would seem to be the appetite of Brazilians for foreign destinations.

Skytrax has just released the results of its prestigious awards. The top 10 of the Best Airline in the World looks as follows:

1. Qatar Airways. It flies to Brazil.
2. Asiana Airlines.
3. Singapore Airlines. It flies to Brazil.
4. Cathay Pacific.
5. ANA All Nippon Airways.
6. Etihad Airways. It will to Brazil from 2013.
7. Turkish Airlines. It flies to Brazil.
8. Emirates. It flies to Brazil.
9. Thai Airways.
10. Malaysia Airlines.

Absolut domination of the Asian airlines on the list. Among the top 10, four are currently flying to Brazil and a fifth one will do so from next year.

Along with the overall classification, there are other interesting rankings. I’m sure many readers of D AIRFARE will be keen to know where they’ll find the best economy class in the world:

1. Singapore Airlines
2. Qatar Airways
3. Asiana Airlines
4. Garuda Indonesia
5. ANA All Nippon Airways
6. Malaysia Airlines
7. Turkish Airlines
8. Thai Airways
9. Cathay Pacific
10. Virgin Australia

Again, Asia rules.

None of the rankings include Latin American airlines.

Portuguese airline Tap announced a while back ago that it was cancelling its Lisbon to Campinas flight. The company has now changed its mind and announces it will continue flying to Viracopos airport in Campinas.

Apparently a series of meeting between the airline, the authorities and the airport resulted in a series of commitments that opened the door for a change of heart.