Air France-KLM Acquiring 25% of Alitalia

The management of Air France-KLM announced yesterdaay that they had reached an agreement to acquire a 25% minority share in Italian carrier Alitalia. Calling the move a "new strategic partnership," Air France-KLM says the deal will allow it to have greater access to the Italian market through Alitalia, while strengthening Alitalia's position in both the domestic Italian market, and international markets.

According to Air France-KLM, the airline partnership will pursue a multi-hub strategy in Europe, which will put Rome-Fiumicino and Milan-Malpensa airports "on an equal basis" with Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol. (In addition to Rome and Milan, Alitalia now has domestic hubs at Venice, Turin, Naples and Catania.)

As a part of the €323 million deal, Air France-KLM will hold three of the 19 seats on the Alitalia board, and will have two of nine seats on Executive Committee of the Governing Council.

The agreement still must be aproved by the shareholders of Alitalia, as well as by the European Union's regulatory authorities. The parties hope that such approvals will be accomplished before the end of the first quarter of 2009.

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Boeing delivers KLM's first Boeing 777-300ER

The Boeing Company recently delivered a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. The extended range passenger airliner is the first of this type for KLM, which also operates 15 Boeing 777-200ERs.

The B777-300ER is the world's largest long-range twin-engine airplane. A Boeing news release about the aircraft says that in KLM's configuration, it is capable of carrying 425 passengers in a two-class configuration with a maximum range of 14,685 kilometers (7,930 nautical miles) at a cruising speed of 0.84 Mach.

The aircraft arrived at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on February 13, 2008.


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KLM pilot assaulted by pax at Amsterdam

The captain of a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 737 was assaulted by a male passenger at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport last night after the man was denied boarding because he was "too drunk to travel." At the time of the incident, passengers were boarding the aircraft for a scheduled flight to Aberdeen.

A report on the BBC News website says that the passenger, who was not identified by name, was charged with assault and detained in Amsterdam. He was fined 1,500 Euros and later released.

The BBC provided these details:

The [KLM] spokesman said: "The captain told other passengers what had happened and was then able to conduct the flight as normal."

He said the airline had a strict boarding policy and added: "We do not tolerate any misbehaviour of passengers because we do everything we can to safeguard security.

"We can put people on blacklists, banning them from flying with the company, if they cause problems. Anyone who has any intention of causing disruption is a problem for KLM."

A spokesman for the Dutch military police said: "He had got through the security check and went to get on the plane when the captain told him he had drunk too much."

The flight was delayed 30 minutes because of the incident, but then continued on its journey to Aberdeen with the other 99 passengers. The captain was said to have suffered only "slight injuries" -- and a torn uniform.

Air cargo price-fixing in the EU?

The International Herald Tribune reports on an air cargo price-fixing probe by European Union (EU) investigators who raided the offices of several EU-based carriers, including British Airways, Deutsche Lufthansa, and Air France-KLM Group, among others.

British Airways and Lufthansa said they were assisting with the inquiry. U.S. and European officials requested information on "cartel activity" involving British Airways and a number of other airlines and cargo operators, British Airways said in a statement to the Regulatory News Service.

Lufthansa said that its cargo unit was cooperating with the investigation and that it would give no further information on the matter.

A spokeswoman for Air France, Brigitte Barrand, said, "Air France confirms that it, like other freight transporters in Europe, is a subject of the European Commission's investigation and it will bring to the inquiries all the cooperation that's sought."

Cargolux Airlines International, a Luxembourg-based freight carrier, is also being investigated by the commission, said a spokesman for the company, Patrick Jeanne.

A statement from the European Commission said there was reason to believe that the companies concerned might have violated EU cartel rules.

Under EU law, the commission can fine companies accused of operating a cartel as much as 10 percent of their annual sales. It typically opts for about 2 percent to 3 percent of sales.

The European Commission gave no expected date for the completion of its investigation.