This is anything but a surprise: the 29 Novemberthe CEO of Air France-KLM and the Chairman of Jet Airways have signed a major extended cooperation agreement on the joint development of their activities between Europe and India. This agreement is the culmination of a cooperation between the two transport groups that began in 2014 and has since been strengthened.
The agreement between Air France-KLM and Jet took a number of successive steps: the opening of the Paris CDG stopover, the consequent closure of Jet Airways' mini hub in Brussels in 2015, the introduction of a code-share agreement for connections between India, Europe and North America via the hubs of the three carriers, and this year the joint launch of a new Paris-Madras (Chennai) route.
Today, the Europe-India network is divided between the hubs of three airlines: Amsterdam with KLM, Delhi and Bombay (Mumbai) with Jet Airways and Paris Charles de Gaulle with Air France. In the future, Madras could also become a major regional hub for the whole of South India, as well as Sri Lanka, the Maldives and potentially South-East Asia, all just four hours' flight away on average. The airline currently offers 11 connecting domestic destinations on arrival of flight from Paris.
In addition to the Air France-KLM hubs in Amsterdam and Paris, the new Air France-KLM/Jet Airways partnership will also be integrated with the very broad joint venture agreement on the North Atlantic. It allows Jet Airways passengers to benefit from the sales force and network of Air France-KLM and Delta Airlines.
For Air France, this agreement is part of the Franco-Dutch group's drive to increase its presence in Asia, particularly in the continent's two biggest markets: China and India. " Air France-KLM and Jet Airways launch the first cooperation agreement of its kind on the India - Europe market, one of the markets at the heart of the Group's strategy for the coming years. "This is what Jean-Marc Janaillac, CEO of Air France-KLM, said at the signing of the agreement in Mumbai. The airline already has an extensive agreement with China Eastern - which now has a 10% stake in the French carrier - and with China Southern. This gives it essential weight on the Europe/China axis.
In October, the company also signed a major partnership agreement with Vietnam Airlineswhich now gives it a more comfortable position in South-East Asia. All that remained was to consolidate the Indian market. Jet Airways is the most solid airline in the Indian market, in terms of image, quality of service and network.
Air France's dream come true: to be part of a group of partner airlines serving the three main air transport continents: North America, Europe and Asia. " We are breaking new ground in the air transport sector by proposing for the first time to link two partnerships: our extended India-Europe cooperation agreement with Jet Airways and our North America-Europe joint venture with Delta Air Lines. Air France, KLM, Jet Airways and Delta Air Lines will thus link India to an extensive transatlantic network via the Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol hubs. "said Jean Marc Janaillac.
On the Europe-India route, the Air France-KLM group and Jet Airways already carry 1.2 million passengershalf of which are continued on the North Atlantic. The entire network of the three companies thus covers 44 Indian cities and 106 European destinations. For the winter 2017/2018 season, Air France, KLM and Jet Airways are offering 64 weekly flights between the hubs of Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam-Schiphol and 4 destinations in India: Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai.
