Passengers booked on flights to Italy through Alitalia may find their flights re-routed as the airline is discontinuing its codeshare agreement with Air France KLM from March 26. Currently, through the codeshare, tickets of passengers travelling from Johannesburg to Italy have an Alitalia flight number, with flights from Johannesburg and Cape Town to either of the European hubs (Paris or Amsterdam) operated by Air France or KLM.
From March 26, passengers will travel to Alitalia’s Italian destinations via Abu Dhabi on Etihad (which owns 49% of the Italian carrier).
According to ItalyEurope24, the agreement was already terminated in 2015 but only expired this year. Alitalia’s former ce, Silvano Cassano, did not wish to renew the agreement originally established in 2009, as he felt it was negotiated at a time when the Italian airline was in bad shape and was to the advantage of Air France KLM at Alitalia’s expense. The publication also alleges that Etihad and Alitalia would consider taking back the slots at Milan Linate airport currently used by Air France and KLM.
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