Competitors and codeshare partners Air France and Air Tahiti Nui have filed at the Transportation Department for approval of a joint venture that would allow them to collaborate on pricing for the transatlantic portion of Paris-U.S.-Papeete itineraries.
The carriers limited their joint-venture proposal and request for antitrust immunity to the transatlantic portion of the market, saying they would remain codeshare partners, but not joint venture partners, on the Los Angeles-Papeete segment.
In addition, the two carriers would share codes, on an arm’s length basis, on European routes feeding the Paris hub.
On the transatlantic portion of Europe-U.S.-Tahiti itineraries, however, the arrangement will enable the carriers to take the additional step of coordinating schedules and capacity, setting prices and pooling revenue.
According to the carriers, Air Tahiti’s existing codeshare agreement with American Airlines would remain in place, feeding Tahiti-bound traffic to Los Angeles from 19 U.S. points in AA’s system.
The two carriers also emphasized that Air Tahiti is not joining the SkyTeam alliance nor the existing transatlantic joint venture between SkyTeam partners Air France KLM, Delta and Alitalia.
Air France did note, however, that it would share its portion of the revenue from the Air Tahiti joint venture with partners in other joint ventures.
Los Angeles is Air Tahiti’s only U.S. gateway, and it also serves as an intermediate point on its flights to Paris. Air France flies the same itinerary, and because of its joint venture with Delta, it also feeds transatlantic traffic into Los Angeles via such U.S. points as New York, Atlanta and Cincinnati.
Because the two joint ventures overlap, Air France said its existing joint-venture partners need antitrust immunity to coordinate with the proposed new joint venture on pricing and scheduling.