I can see your point but I tend to disagree with it. While it could be considered brash that the Dutch government allowed the AF/KL deal, I think it had always been a major priority of the Dutch government to “offer” KLM openly to Europe.

While KLM might have been generally in quite good shape, it was accepted that KLM needed in order to survive the Europe wide consolidation, a European partner. The alliance between KLM and Northwest was profitable, however, it restricted KLM to flights between Europe and the US only and lacked the overall profitability for the airline. What KLM needed was a sufficient European partner to offer it a complex network to remain competitive.

The Netherlands is a small state, they have always been dependant on international trade, thus are quite liberal. Airlines are no different. The government has always been in favour of the liberalisation of airline ownership and foreign investment, moreover, “Open skies”. Therefore, it was believed that it was in the best general interest of KLM to come open to European ownership.

What I am saying is that although the government’s decision might seem stupid in the short term, I think they have always desired something similar to occur like the AF/KL deal. The limitations are being the present ownership and control restrictions in aviation treaties and bilateral agreements, which hinder the restructuring of the industry. Nevertheless, it possibly guarantees the future of KLM in the times of necessary consolidation and in turn suggesting that there should be no geographical restrictions on airlines.

While this is contradictory of my earlier statements, having looked into the matter I believe that the Dutch government should be commended on such a decision. Only time will tell….

It will be interesting to see what happens with the London flights. TAP currently flies into LGW yet to me this would seem a good airport for Air Luxor. TAP/Air Luxor have quite a good relationship, a number of their flights code-share, so I wonder which London airport it would be?

WOW! What an amazing milestone and picture…well done.

Originally posted by Hand87_5
No it’s just about KL to join Skyteam …….. so far

But can we assume this will have an affect on Northwest’s and Continental’s decision?

Northwest will still have an alliance with KLM yet will effectively still be competing against Delta and Air France. It seems absurd to have three dominant airlines such as NW/DL and CO in one alliance. Will we Northwest turn to other alliances?

It’s a sad day; both companies might still have their individuality in retaining brands but ultimately how long will that last? KLM, the world’s oldest carrier, seemingly now on the path to oblivion. I really do question why it was in the best interest of KLM and waved through by the Dutch Government? A really quite an amazing decision in my opinion.

But anyway, a momentous day nonetheless, redefining the term “nationality” in aviation. If the first steps in consolidation were excepted by the EC then I would not be surprised to see BA and IB getting closer in the future.

So we might finally see a decision from KLM 😮

I don’t particularly agree with the AF/KL link up, as I believe AF will just kill Amsterdam as a hub and KLM as an airline. But what is this exactly, is it a takeover or an alliance between three airlines?

Thank you very much, I really appreciate your thoughts.

I received some pretty decent Cannon binoculars so it is no guess what I have been doing today 🙂