FAILURE by Alitalia to
communicate changes to
its codeshare agreement
on flights from SA has left
agents frustrated.
The airline cancelled its
codeshare agreement with Air
France KLM, which resulted in
passengers who were meant
to fly on an AF or KLM flight
being rebooked to an Etihad
flight. Travel agents, however,
were not notified and only
discovered the change when
trying to book on the GDS.
David Pegg, md of Sure
Viva Travel, says: “I received
a message on the GDS that
the Alitalia-AF KLM codeshare
flights were not operating. I
called them and they didn’t
know anything about it. They
said they were going to find
out from head office. That
leaves us agents running
around trying to find out what
to do.”
According to David, the
change causes major
inconvenience for his clients.
The flying time is longer as
passengers now have to fly
via Abu Dhabi as opposed to
flying straight to either Paris or
Amsterdam. He also says the
business-class offering is not
the same as was offered on
AF and KLM aircraft.
TNW made numerous
attempts to get further
information regarding the
cancellation of the codeshare
agreements from Alitalia,
Etihad and Air France, but
none of the airlines responded
at the time of publishing.
According to Routes Online,
effective March 26, Alitalia
is downsizing its codeshare
partnership with Air France
KLM on many of its routes,
including intra-European and
long-haul routes, affecting
JNB-Paris and CPT-Amsterdam.
ItalyEurope24 reports that
the agreement was terminated
in 2015, but only expired
this year. The Financial Times
previously quoted Alitalia’s
former ce, Silvano Cassano,
as saying that the agreements
were no longer beneficial
“either commercially or
strategically, to the new Alitalia
and its ambitious turnaround
plan. They were negotiated
when Alitalia was in a very
different position, with the
result that the agreements
in their current forms favour
the other party.” He said
the agreements undermined
Alitalia’s ability to restructure
its network and airline
effectively to achieve long-term
sustainability.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street
Journal claims Alitalia is on
the brink of bankruptcy as
Etihad’s strategy for the
Italian carrier to turn a profit
for the first time in 20 years
this year “flopped”. The
newspaper said “it is only
weeks away from grounding
its fleet and seeking another
reboot”.
Alitalia’s board of directors
is preparing to approve an
adjusted business plan to turn
the airline around.
