Alitalia to end deal with Air France-KLM in 2017

Italy's Alitalia announced it will not renew its partnership and joint venture agreements with Air France-KLM when the deal expires in 2017.

The partnership, writes Radiocor press agency, concerns the passenger services of the airlines between France, Italy and the Netherlands, along with marketing, the sale and distribution of Alitalia's cargo belly services operated by Air France-KLM. The deals date back to 2009 and 2010.

More cargo red ink for Air France KLM

The Air France KLM Group reported cargo revenue of €625 million for Q1 ending March 31, 2015 – a drop of 7.5 percent over the same period last year. As a result, the business segment saw its operating result worsen from minus €34 million to minus €63 million compared to Q1 2014.

 

The company said freighter capacity was reduced 9.6 percent during the quarter in response to what it described as "weak global trade and structural air cargo industry overcapacity". Despite an increase of 1.2 percent in belly space, revenue per tonne-kilometer fell 11.3 percent overall compared to the same period last year.