Alitalia, Italy’s flagship carrier, announced on Monday that it would be joining a joint venture currently undertaken by Air France-KLM and U.S. airline Delta Airlines to share routes, the company announced on Monday.
The four airlines are all part of the SkyTeam airline alliance group.
The joint venture, currently immune from antitrust laws, enables the airlines to set fares, share routes, and share revenues and costs as the global airline industry endures a slow recovery after the recession.
“Trans-Atlantic traffic is the most strategic and competitive marketplace,” said Alitalia CEO Rocco Sabelli in a statement. “We are proud to be partnering with the world’s leading airlines in a joint venture which the whole industry looks at as the benchmark. Such an achievement highlights the valuable results obtained so far by Alitalia, and further opens up opportunities for our industrial and commercial growth.”
The airlines stopped short of a merger, but governance of the joint venture will be shared among the four airlines, and the agreement will last until at least March 31, 2022, the companies announced.
Together, the four airlines will control around 25 percent of the lucrative trans-Atlantic travel market.
Air France-KLM already are 25 percent shareholders in Alitalia and had attempted last year to outrightly purchase the company.
The alliance “has the same benefits as a merger, but maintains the companies separate as long as it makes sense. There is no plan for a merger,” Sabelli confirmed.
The four airlines are all part of the SkyTeam airline alliance group.
The joint venture, currently immune from antitrust laws, enables the airlines to set fares, share routes, and share revenues and costs as the global airline industry endures a slow recovery after the recession.
“Trans-Atlantic traffic is the most strategic and competitive marketplace,” said Alitalia CEO Rocco Sabelli in a statement. “We are proud to be partnering with the world’s leading airlines in a joint venture which the whole industry looks at as the benchmark. Such an achievement highlights the valuable results obtained so far by Alitalia, and further opens up opportunities for our industrial and commercial growth.”
The airlines stopped short of a merger, but governance of the joint venture will be shared among the four airlines, and the agreement will last until at least March 31, 2022, the companies announced.
Together, the four airlines will control around 25 percent of the lucrative trans-Atlantic travel market.
Air France-KLM already are 25 percent shareholders in Alitalia and had attempted last year to outrightly purchase the company.
The alliance “has the same benefits as a merger, but maintains the companies separate as long as it makes sense. There is no plan for a merger,” Sabelli confirmed.
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