Air France working with Etihad Airways, other carriers to expand network

Passengers taking Air France flights can now look forward to connect to several destinations across the world in future.

Air France recently announced it is working jointly with several carriers, including KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Etihad Airways, Alitalia and Airberlin, to form a new air corridor between major hubs in the West and Middle East.

Air France in a statement said that the airline companies were into talks initially to enter into codeshare agreement on specific connections. However, all these carriers decided to expand the negotiations and make efforts to form a viable, sustainable and significant commercial partnership that would benefit each of these airlines.

Media reports said that Air France-KLM Group and Etihad Airways are likely to form a joint venture along with Airberlin and Alitalia on some of the important routes in the Middle East, Europe and Asia with independent marketing policies and price to be agreed by all the carriers in advance.
 
The participating carriers are expected to announce their final plans in the autumn this year.