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Air France-KLM and its US partner Delta are studying ways of keeping Alitalia inside the Skyteam alliance - but without Air France-KLM being a buyer, CE Jean-Marc Janaillac said Friday. “We are not a potential buyer so we did not participate in the process,” Janaillac said, adding the Franco-Dutch airline group has not had access to Alitalia data. Lufthansa, which leads the rival Star Alliance and has its own North Atlantic joint venture, has said it would be interested in a bid but only if Alitalia could be restructured. Janaillac said that given the publicly-known offers so far, there was a risk that Alitalia could leave Skyteam and the North Atlantic joint venture, which would have a negative impact for Air France-KLM. Air France-KLM and Delta last year rejigged their North Atlantic alliance, bringing in Virgin Atlantic, which had a separate joint venture with Delta. “Also, we are working (on) a new joint venture in the Atlantic with a specific role for Alitalia and it would also be quite negative to have Alitalia not as a partner but as a competitor on these North Atlantic routes,” he said. The Italian market is of interest to airlines because of the high demand from tourists from all over the world wanting to visit the country.<br/>

Air France-KLM expects ticket prices to be positive in Q1 this year and will offer more seats on routes to Asia and Latin America to meet demand, although competition from high-speed trains was biting in France. The Franco-Dutch airline reported Friday an operating result of E1.488b, up 42% but slightly missing the average analyst forecast for E1.53b in a company compiled consensus. The group reported a net loss of E274m for 2017 due to a E1.4b charge linked to a new pension deal for KLM pilots and cabin crew. Like other major European airlines, the Franco-Dutch carrier benefited from low oil prices and strong travel demand last year, while the collapse of Monarch and Air Berlin has removed some competition from the market. Air France-KLM is also benefiting from a return of travellers from Asia and Latin America. It plans to increase capacity by 3-4% overall on its main passenger network this year. “We have been helped by the good environment,” CFOFrederic Gagey said, adding Air France-KLM’s increase in profit was also helped by stable unit costs. The group had set an initial target early last year to reduce unit costs by 1-1.5%, but added caveats to that at its Q3 results. It said it was aiming for a reduction of 1-1.5% this year, excluding the impact of currency, fuel and pension charges. Gagey said forward-bookings on long-haul flights were up 1 percentage point in February, up 4 percentage points in March, down 1 percentage point in April because of Easter, and up 2% for May.<br/>

Air France is facing a widespread strike on Feb. 22 after salary negotia­tions reignited long-running tensions with the unions representing its workforce. Unions representing all the categories of Air France staff have come together to call for a one-day strike, which could lead to disruption during the school vaca­tion period for some parts of France. The unions want to strike to oppose the proposed 1% pay increase put forward by Air France management during annual salary negotiations, which was approved by some unions representing a minority of the carrier’s staff. The main Air France unions, including the Syndicat National des Pilotes de Ligne (SNPL) pilots’ union and the Syndicat National du Personnel Navigant Commercial (SNPNC) cabin-crew union describe the offer as a “hand­out” which is “well below employees’ expectations.” The unions argue that staff should get a 6% increase to reflect rising living costs and salaries, which they say have not been reflecting inflation for the past six years.<br/>