Delta and Australian regional carrier Rex are teaming up to access each other’s networks, a partnership coup for the diminutive Sydney-based carrier as it tries to establish itself as a rival to Qantas. Rex’s passengers across Australia will be able to connect to Delta’s network in a single booking by joining the US carrier’s Sydney-Los Angeles services, Rex Deputy Chairman John Sharp said. Delta’s flights to Sydney can connect to more than 60 Rex routes in Australia. Rex customers will also be eligible for preferential rates with Delta, Sharp said. Rex plans to soon introduce a loyalty program that will link with the US carrier’s one. Ultimately, Rex’s frequent fliers should be able to access Delta’s US lounges and use air miles to buy Delta flights, he said. The unlikely partnership brings together one of the world’s biggest airlines with one of the smallest. Regional Express Holdings Ltd., as Rex is formally known, has a market value of just $97m. A tie up with Delta, which is worth $28 billion, gives branding muscle to Rex’s new strategy of flying busy Australian routes dominated by Qantas. The agreement means Rex will soon have access to an overseas network, lounges in Australia’s biggest airports and its own loyalty program, Sharp said. “By the time you cover those things, you offer our domestic customers the full suite of services they’re looking for,” he said. Services between Delta and Rex are due to start in the third quarter this year. Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd. ended its more than 10-year partnership with Delta in December, opting for United Airlines Holdings Inc. instead. By the end of the year, Delta will bring about 500 passengers a day into Sydney, Sharp said. A fifth of them might then take a Rex flight, he said.<br/>
sky
KLM cancelled 47 flights scheduled for this weekend to and from Amsterdam to improve working conditions for its staff, the airline said in a statement, having earlier scrapped dozens of flights scheduled for Friday. KLM ground staff at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport last Saturday went on an unannounced strike demanding higher pay and better working conditions, causing delays, cancellations and overall chaos at Europe's third busiest airport. "The flight schedule will be optimized on a day to day basis this weekend. More cancellations are not foreseen for now, but might still follow," KLM's statement read. On Thursday, Schiphol had asked airlines to consider scrapping flights, as it feared its terminals would overcrowd again during the weekend. <br/>