KQ and KLM cleared to align

According to eTurboNews, the Kenya Competition Authority has granted alliance partners Kenya Airways and Air France-KLM a further seven-year exemption in co-ordinating schedules, setting fares and using joint measures to save costs through codeshare agreements, scheduling alignments, and where necessary adjusting capacity on the Nairobi-Amsterdam route and beyond.

This means that no other airline may file cases claiming anti-competitive behaviour against them. KQ and KLM are free to align fares and take other joint action.

Kenya Airways and KLM have been in a close partnership since KQ was privatised in 1996, with KLM holding a significant share portion, alongside the government of Kenya. KLM sponsored KQ to full membership at SkyTeam, which has benefitted the African airline through codeshare arrangements with a number of partners, opening routes to Australia, Seoul, Ho Chi Minh City, and a number of Chinese mainland destinations.

 

Travelport and Air France-KLM Sign Agreement

Travelport and Air France-KLM have announced a multi-year global distribution agreement, providing all Travelport-connected users with full content.
The agreement includes ancillary services such as Economy Comfort and Seat Plus. Travelport-connected agents will also gain access to full content from Air France’s new regional carrier HOP!, which offers extensive flights in and around France, as well as to a host of other European cites.
"We are delighted to reach a mutually beneficial, full content agreement with Air France-KLM”, said Robin Ranken, Travelport Head of Supplier Europe. "We will continue to work with Air France, KLM and HOP! to distribute their products the way they want, including any new content or merchandising options."

Air France and KLM to Offer Wi-Fi

Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have installed Wi-Fi on board two Boeing 777-300 planes and will conduct a trial phase throughout the rest of 2013.
Passengers flying either the Paris-New York route on Air France or the Amsterdam-Panama route on KLM, can now send text messages and emails, and surf the Internet during their flight. An in-flight website offers a range of free services, including live television news and sports channels, relevant airline and destination information.
 During the pilot phase, hourly and full-flight fees will be offered. It will be 10.95 euros per hour or 19.95 euros for the full flight, applicable for all classes. Travellers can pay for their Internet access by credit card.
Mobile phone usage (for text and data) will be billed to the phone users according to their own roaming agreements. Wireless service — whether the on-board portal or satellite Internet — will commence once the flight has reached 20,000 feet, shortly after take-off.

Air France-KLM, Etihad and Airberlin Join Forces

Air France-KLM, Etihad Airways and airberlin have agreed on a new commercial partnership. As of 28 October, the airlines will offer their customers more destinations, thanks to mutual code-share agreements. On the routes between Europe and Abu Dhabi, Etihad customers will be able to fly on the Amsterdam-Abu Dhabi daily flight operated by KLM. Air France customers will be able to travel every day between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Abu Dhabi, on Etihad-operated flights.
 Beyond their gateways, this code-share agreement offers five destinations each to Air France and KLM passengers on the Asian and Australian market, and 10 European destinations to Etihad passengers on Air France and KLM. Air France passengers will be able to connect through Abu Dhabi for flights to Colombo, Dhaka, Katmandu (subject to government approval), Mahe, and Male. KLM passengers will be able to connect through Abu Dhabi for flights to Colombo, Islamabad, Lahore, Melbourne and Sydney.
Etihad passengers will be able to connect through Paris-CDG for flights to Bordeaux, Copenhagen, Madrid, Nice and Toulouse, on an Air France-operated flight, and through Amsterdam-Schiphol to Billund, Cardiff, Newcastle, Oslo, and Stavanger, on a KLM-operated flight. Further to that, Air France and airberlin customers will be able to fly on all the routes operated by the other between France and Germany. Passengers will also be able to connect to some selected destinations via Paris for airberlin, and via Berlin or Düsseldorf for Air France.
 Air France passengers will be able to connect through Berlin-Tegel airport to Krakow, Gdansk, Graz, and from Düsseldorf to Dresden, on services operated by airberlin. Airberlin passengers will be able to transfer through Paris-CDG and Paris-Orly to Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseilles, Montpellier, Nantes, Nice, and Toulouse, on services operated by Air France. Additionally, KLM and airberlin will co-operate on routes between the Netherlands and Germany. KLM will code-share with airberlin on three destinations beyond Berlin, namely Krakow, Gdansk and Kaliningrad. Airberlin will code-share on Berlin-Amsterdam routes as well as on Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester, beyond Amsterdam.