Brazilian airline Azul Linhas Aéreas and the Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines signed a co-operation agreement last week for the implementation of routes between Brazil and China.

The flights will be operated between Beijing and the Brazilian city of Fortaleza, in Ceará State, with a stop in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, Brazilian media reported.

The agreement was signed during a trade mission to China by the Governor of Ceará, Camilo Santana.

David Neeleman is the founder of Azul Linhas Aéreas. Mr Neeleman is also one of the partners in the consortium that won approval to acquire 61 percent stake in Portuguese airline TAP.

Since 2010, the Portuguese carrier has had an agreement with Air China for the operation of scheduled services between Porto and Beijing, Lisbon-Beijing and Lisbon-Shanghai. Under the agreement, TAP currently takes passengers from Lisbon to Frankfurt, Madrid, Rome or Milan, where they then connect to Air China services for the rest of the journey.

According to the Brazilian newspaper O Povo, citing Governor Camilo Santana, Hainan Airlines has also shown interest in the concessions for the airports of Fortaleza and Salvador, both in Ceará State.