GLOBAL – Air France, KLM, Delta and Virgin Atlantic have unveiled an expanded joint venture aimed at offering a greater choice of routes and loyalty options for customers travelling between Europe, the United Kingdom and North America.
Governance of the joint venture will be equally shared between the Air France-KLM Group, Delta and Virgin Atlantic.
An executive committee comprising the three CEOs and a management committee of representatives from departments across the businesses will define future strategy.
The airlines said in a joint statement that the new partnership would provide customers with more convenient flight schedules and a shared goal of ensuring a smooth and consistent travel experience, regardless of the airline people fly.
“The partnership also provides the flexibility to book flights on any of the four carriers through their respective mobile apps, websites, or via travel agents,” the airlines said in a statement.
In the new partnership, customers will get to enjoy award-winning service, top-tier premium cabin products and complimentary food.
Customers will also get to drink and enjoy seat-back in-flight entertainment in all cabins on all trans-Atlantic flights, the airlines explained.
The airlines noted that the enhanced customer benefits which are scheduled to start on February 13, meant that loyalty programme members would be able to earn and use miles or enjoy elite benefits for flights on any of the four airlines’ worldwide operations.
Customers who either on trans-Atlantic trip, intra-Europe hops, or domestic US journey, will now have more opportunities to quickly move through loyalty tiers and reach a higher status.
“Eligible Elite loyalty programme members can also enjoy priority boarding and relax in over 100 airport lounges when travelling internationally,” the statement read in part.
The airlines gave other highlights that included up to 341 peak daily trans-Atlantic services, covering the top 10 routes on a nonstop basis; onward connections to 238 cities in North America; 98 in continental Europe; and 16 in the UK and a choice of 110 nonstop trans-Atlantic routes.
According to the airlines, the enhanced network is also fully available to cargo customers and is built around the carriers’ hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, London Heathrow, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York-JFK, Paris, Seattle and Salt Lake City.
Governance of the joint venture will be equally shared between the Air France-KLM Group, Delta and Virgin Atlantic. An executive committee comprising the three CEOs and a management committee of representatives from departments across the businesses will define future strategy.
The customer benefits of the joint venture are unaffected by the recent confirmation that Air France-KLM will no longer buy a 31 per cent stake in Virgin Atlantic.
Virgin Group will retain its 51 per cent majority stake in Virgin Atlantic, with Delta continuing to hold 49 per cent.
