Portuguese airline TAP and Beijing Capital Airlines of China have extended their code-sharing arrangement to cover TAP flights between Portugal and Brazil, TAP has announced.

TAP issued a written statement saying this means Beijing Capital Airlines can sell tickets for return flights from China to Lisbon and then on to seven Brazilian cities.

The Portuguese airline says it expects a considerable increase in the number of Chinese and Brazilian passengers on its flights.

The code-sharing arrangement previously covered only Beijing Capital Airlines flights to and from Lisbon, the only direct flights between Portugal and China.