Virgin Atlantic and Air France-KLM are beginning their first
codeshare agreement.
The partnership comes a few weeks after European regulators
approved Air France-KLM's 31% acquisition of Virgin Atlantic. It also comes
as those airlines and Delta are vying for regulatory approval to combine Delta's
bilateral joint ventures with Virgin Atlantic and Air France into a three-way
transatlantic joint venture.
Under the codeshare deal, Virgin Atlantic will affix its
code to Air France flights operating from six U.K. airports to Paris Charles de
Gaulle as well as on Air France flights from Paris to 18 North American
destinations, including 13 in the U.S. In addition, Virgin Atlantic will
codeshare on KLM flights operating from 16 U.K. cities through Amsterdam as
well as on KLM flights from Amsterdam to 18 North American destinations,
including 12 in the U.S.
Conversely, Air France and KLM will affix their codes to a
total of 19 Virgin Atlantic routes, including flights to 17 U.S. cities and out
of five U.K. airports.
In conjunction with its new Air France-KLM codeshares,
Virgin Atlantic will expand its codeshare arrangement with Delta to include
Delta flights from Amsterdam to Atlanta, Boston and Detroit. Air France and KLM
will expand their codeshare partnership with Delta to include five new routes
between the U.K. and the U.S.
Along with allowing for a single booking reference, flyers
who book one of the new codeshare routes will be able to earn and redeem miles
interchangeably between the participating airlines.
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Correction: Virgin Atlantic is codesharing with Air France and KLM. A previous version said Virgin America in error.