In June 2025, SkyTeam, the youngest of all three major global airline alliances, will turn 25. From the four original founding members, Delta Air Lines, Air France-KLM, Aeroméxico, and Korean Air, SkyTeam has grown to encompass 19 carriers from all over the world. AeroTime spoke with SkyTeam CEO Patrick Roux to better understand the current state of the alliance, its inner workings, and what sets it apart from its global competitors, Star Alliance and oneworld. A telecommunications engineer by background, Roux is an airline industry veteran who, prior to leading SkyTeam, held a string of senior roles at Air France-KLM at different locations around the world. “I started in revenue management, implementing the first yield management system at Air France,” he said. “That was prior to becoming the Chief of Staff of Air France’s CEO.” A key development in Roux’s career took place in 2004, with the successful merger of Air France with Dutch flag carrier KLM. As the airline’s then Head of Marketing, Roux was instrumental in defining and implementing the group’s dual marketing strategy, a set up that remains in place to this day. <br/>
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Air France-KLM is optimistic about the Brazilian market for 2025 after posting positive results in the country this year, executives for the European carrier in Latin America's largest economy told reporters on Tuesday. South America is the second biggest long-haul area for Air France-KLM after North America, and Brazil was a key investment destination for the company this year. The firm now hopes to consolidate its operations in the country, where it has a commercial partnership with Gol, after an expansion in 2024 that led it to exceed its pre-pandemic frequencies. The 2024 expansion included launching flights between Paris and the coastal city of Salvador and bumping up flights to Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza, Brazil's fourth largest city and a major beach venue. The company currently operates 47 weekly flights in Brazil, up from 44 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Capacity in 2024 increased 3% on a yearly basis, while the average load factor between January and November in Brazilian routes remained at 2023's strong level of 91.6%, Air France-KLM said.<br/>