Singapore, Air France-KLM ink codeshare deal

Singapore Airlines and regional offshoot SilkAir will codeshare with Air France-KLM across a range of destinations from April 27. The move will see the SQ designator added to Air France flights to 10 destinations in continental Europe and the UK while Air France will add its codes to flights operated to Melbourne and Sydney in Australia and SilkAir flights to Kuala Lumpur and Penang in Malaysia and Thailand’s Phuket. The 10 UK and European destinations to see the SQ code are Aberdeen, Bordeaux, Edinburgh, Lisbon, Lyon, Madrid, Marseille, Newcastle, Nice and Toulouse. The airlines said they will look at the expanding the codeshare, which would provide customers more options and better connectivity, at a later date. They will also look at a reciprocal “earn and burn” opportunity for their KrisFlyer and Flying Blue frequent flyer members. Singapore is a member of Star Alliance and Air France-KLM belongs to the SkyTeam group so frequent flyer reciprocity is not automatic. Singapore Airlines vice president marketing and planning Tan Kai Ping said the deal would offer significant benefits to customers through enhanced connections and increased codeshare destinations. “In addition, this new agreement provides a strong foundation for future commercial co-operation opportunities between our two airline groups,’’ Tan said in a statement. “It is also another example of our commitment to the Singapore hub and the European market.” Air France-KLM group senior vice president alliances Patrick Roux said the move would significantly improve connections for Air France customers from Singapore to Australia. “This kind of partnership is part of our aim to expand our market position and increase our range of destinations for our customers all around the world,” he said. Only one European carrier, British Airways, currently flies its own planes to Australia.