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Korean Air Lines is in talks with Delta Air Lines for a joint venture in a move that would give Delta a bigger foothold in Asia where rising incomes are fuelling a boom in air travel. Details of the partnership would be disclosed later, the KAL’s president Walter Cho said Monday, declining to elaborate. Delta, which has said it will rely on tie-ups in Asia to improve connectivity to the region’s largest economies, is extending an existing pact with KAL beyond code-sharing. While a joint venture will provide Delta a hub in Seoul and help it compete with other US rivals, its partner could get greater access in North America as South Korea prepares to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. Delta and KAL in September agreed to expand their code-sharing partnership. A JV between the two could have about 14% of the trans-Pacific market. <br/>

Aeroflot Group carried 1.5m international passengers in January, up 25.6% year-over-year. Domestic traffic grew 10.1% to 1.9m. The group’s passenger load factor increased 2.5 percentage points YOY to 76.6%. Total group traffic reached 3.4m in January, up 15.4% YOY. Aeroflot Airline carried 2.3m passengers last month, up 14.8%. Group and company RPKs increased 19.3% and 14.8% to 9.09b and 6.7b YOY, respectively. ASKs rose 15.4% to 11.9b for Aeroflot Group and 11.7% to 8.8b for Aeroflot Airline. “Growth in the international segment was driven by the stable macroeconomic situation, increased flight frequencies and the launch of flights to new international destinations, as well as the development of Rossiya’s charter program and of Pobeda’s international route network,” the group said. <br/>