Qantas' Jetstar in alliance with Air France-KLM

[JingKai Seah 0]

SYDNEY — Jetstar, the budget offshoot of Australian flag carrier Qantas, Wednesday announced an agreement with Air France-KLM which the airline hopes will expand its customer base in Europe.

 

The deal, which includes Jetstar, Jetstar Asia/Valuair and Jetstar Pacific, will cover all Jetstar ports and Air France-KLM hubs in Paris and Amsterdam.

 

The partnership will allow passengers to travel more easily to the almost 60 destinations across the Asia-Pacific region that Jetstar serves, including through its growing Singapore hub, Jetstar executive manager commercial David Koczkar said.

 

"It also supports Jetstar's position as the largest low-cost carrier in Asia Pacific," he said in a statement.

 

Air France-KLM, which operates more than 200 weekly flights to 22 Asian cities, said the alliance was a strategic move towards improving its reach into the fast growing region.

 

"By joining forces with Jetstar we are offering more choice in destinations between Europe and the Asia Pacific," said Marnix Fruitema, senior vice president Asia Pacific.

 

The deal is the first the Jetstar group has done outside its parent company Qantas. Jetstar operates close to 2,000 flights each week to 57 destinations across the Asia-Pacific region.

 

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

 

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jPj7omGTAxPa-HRwvLSRXiNygWRQ

[kandiah k 0]

Great news for JQ and AF/KL. Goodbye MH !!

[Ken M. 0]

Thoroughly depressing news to those of us who want to see MH in Skyteam.

[Pieter C. 5]

Apparently, the feud between AF and MH is VERY deep indeed, giving the preference to a LCC !!!

[Y. J. Foo 0]

Apparently, the fuid between AF and MH is VERY deep indeed, giving the preference to a LCC !!!  

 

And said LCC is a subsidiary of a major airline in a rival alliance no less...

[Johan Z 0]

Would it be only between AF and JQ, and not KL? KL and MH has been strong together and I doubt KL will change it. But only time will tell.....

[KC Sim 2]

MH in Skyteam? I think the door is now closed. With Vietnam Airlines to the north joining Skyteam next week, China Eastern further north and Garuda to the south . . . there is no room for MH in this already crowded grouping.

 

MH's feud with Air France dates back a long way and I am sure some of the Malaysian aviation enthusiasts will have a clearer sense of where it originated. MH may have waited far too long to even attempt joining an alliance and I cannot imagine it getting into Star Alliance or oneworld. And it also does not make sense to try and forge yet another alliance - just remember how spectacularly Qualiflyer (considered by many to be the alliance of losers) failed.

 

As KLM aligns itself more with Garuda (that I am certain will happen because I have witnessed personally the fantastic chemistry between KLM's and Garuda's CEOs), MH may find itself increasingly uncomfortable in a marriage between three parties.

 

The combined network offered by the AF-KLM-Jetstar group interline agreement is bookable via GDSs and on the websites of AF and KLM . . . but not on Jetstar's website. With Jetstar Asia serving 20 destinations out of Singapore and more being added later this year (announcement of new destinations using A330-200s may be made next week), AF-KLM felt that the agreement will drive more European traffic through Singapore. The AF-Qantas codeshare arrangement worked well and provides link to five Australian cities but this new agreement added Cairns and Darwin to that. This is the first interline agreement between the Jetstar group of airlines and a full service carrier outside of the Qantas Group. According to Mr Marnix Fruitema, KLM's Snr VP Asia Pacific, it took almost a year's negotiation to come to this agreement.

 

KC Sim

[BC Tam 2]

MH in Skyteam? . . . there is no room for MH in this already crowded grouping

 

..... MH may have waited far too long to even attempt joining an alliance and I cannot imagine it getting into Star Alliance or oneworld. And it also does not make sense to try and forge yet another alliance .....

No big deal or worry lah !

As long as they can still go about the nation, thumping own chest and singing own praises, in manner of a jaguh kampung, it will serve most of its very purpose for existence anyway

Why you need all this alliance business with 'outsiders' sticking their noses into how business is transacted in 'our' national carrier ? What for ?!