Air France and KLM are representing Delta Airlines in India with effect from June 1. An agreement to this effect has been signed to provide a higher level of integration and enhanced competitive positioning to the three partners.
A similar arrangement is already in place in some European countries within the framework of the joint venture signed in May 2009 between the three partners.
Under the agreement, all the commercial services of Delta Airlines such as reservations, pricing, marketing and sales will be facilitated by the Air France-KLM India regional management. The partner airlines already operate jointly their trans-Atlantic routes and Amsterdam-Mumbai route, sharing revenues and costs.
A joint statement issued by the partners said “this joint venture will help us grow our network from India and we truly believe that, globally, passengers will benefit more from this alliance in terms of access to a vast network, more frequencies, convenient flight schedules, competitive fares and harmonised services on all trans-Atlantic flights operated by the partners.”
Air France and KLM each operate their own networks within a dual-hub strategy. The two hubs are Air France's home base, Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport and KLM's home base, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Air France and KLM have a worldwide network of 258 destinations in 110 countries and 594 aircraft in operation. In India, Air France flies daily from Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore to Paris and KLM operates seven weekly flights from Delhi to Amsterdam.
Delta Air Lines has a mainline fleet of nearly 800 aircraft, and operates from the U.S. with its hubs of Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York-JFK, Cincinnati, Memphis and Salt Lake City. In India, it operates seven weekly flights from Mumbai to the U.S. via Amsterdam.
