Sim Kok Chwee, Singapore (2010-06-03)

AIR France KLM has signed an interline agreement with the Jetstar group of airlines – Jetstar Airways, Jetstar Asia, Valuair and Jetstar Pacific – to feed European passengers into the latter's intra-Asian and Australasian network.

KLM’s senior vice president Asia-Pacific Marnix Fruitema said: “We are focused primarily on the fast and reliable connections that this agreement brings to our customers via the three hubs of Charles de Gaulle, Schiphol and Singapore.”

Bookings may be made on GDSs and the websites of Air France and KLM but not on Jetstar’s website.

Fruitema said UK and European tour operators have already expressed interest in utilising the through fares and baggage interlining arrangements afforded by this deal. European passengers with multiple destinations in the Asia-Pacific region may also minimise back-tracking and the cost of intra-regional travel by entering and exiting via different points.

This is the first deal between a full service airline and the Jetstar carriers as a group. It overlaps Air France KLM’s current codeshare services with Qantas Airways to five Australian cities and results in the addition of two destinations, Cairns and Darwin.

This agreement, along with Jetstar’s growing footprint out of Singapore, also cements Changi Airport’s hub operation.