India’s full-service carrier Jet Airways has signed an enhanced co-operation agreement with Air France and KLM for strengthening their services between India and Europe. First signed in 2014, the co-operation was extended in 2016 with a codeshare agreement for connections between Europe and North America. As part of the latest development, the three airlines will work together to develop their product offerings, across the their combined network spanning 44 cities in India and 106 destinations across Europe. Naresh Goyal, chairman, Jet Airways, said, “This partnership will be very good for us, travel and tourism industry and trade. It will also help to improve our cost structure.”
Jean-Marc Janaillac, chairman and CEO, Air France-KLM, commented, “We are focused on serving our Indian customers; India is a tremendous growth market for us. The economic power of India is increasing and there is positive climate for business, making India a fast growing market for civil aviation. This agreement will also deepen Indo-European bilateral relations. Our goal is to carry 1.7 million passengers from India in 2018, which is a 40 per cent increase over the present figures, and this agreement is an important step to achieve this growth.”
Owing to Jet Airways’ position as a leading airline between India and Gulf, Goyal also reaffirmed Jet Airways’ partnership with Etihad Airways.
Peter Elbers, president and CEO, KLM, stated, “Last month KLM reintroduced its Mumbai-Amsterdam service. We are committed to the India market. There is a lot of investment happening in the Netherlands from India, which is a growth factor for air travel between the two countries. Our focus remains on offering more travel options and stepping up frequencies.”
Goyal further informed that Jet Airways is looking at joint purchase of fuel, and combined efforts in MRO in order to further improve cost structure. Jet Airways is also looking for a slot to operate Delhi-London flights.
