Wednesday May 20, 2009

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By Sam Devraj  ( Assistant Editor )

Air link: A new venture comprising Air France, KLM and Delta Airlines will cover routes between the US and Europe, Amsterdam and India

AIR FRANCE-KLM and its US partner Delta Airlines said today they planned to launch a new joint venture to operate transatlantic flights and to share costs and revenue.

The deal would extend an earlier cooperation agreement worked out in March 2008 by including routes operated by KLM, a Dutch carrier, and Northwest Airlines of the US, which merged with US rival Delta last year.

The new arrangement, to be signed today, would cover routes between the US and Europe, Amsterdam and India, and North America and Tahiti in the Pacific, the two carriers said.

The new venture would account for cover about 25 per cent of the transatlantic market and is "an essential element to competition with the two other major alliances active" in the sector, a joint statement said.

The competing tie-ups are Star Alliance, grouped around Germany's Lufthansa, and OneWorld, of which British Airways is the principal player.

The new Air France-KLM-Delta alliance would have annual sales of around $12bn (£7.8bn) and offer more than 200 transatlantic flights, or 50,000 seats, a day, according to the statement.

Delta Airlines is the world's largest carrier in terms of traffic while Air France-KLM is number one in Europe.

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