The "open skies" agreement signed by the EU and US in April 2007 has allowed Air France and Delta to further develop their partnership by signing a joint-venture agreement. As a result, the two airlines have access to some of the world’s fastest-growing markets.

This joint-venture is a necessary measure, which should ultimately be extended to encompass other partners once the regulatory authorizations, such as antitrust immunity requested by Air France, Delta Air Lines, KLM, Northwest, Alitalia and CSA, have been granted.

More generally, the "open skies" agreement is a step towards creating an open marketplace within which increasingly global carriers will operate.

Even if these airlines continue to operate their global network from their own continent, they will also adopt strategies to help them secure their position as global players, by signing joint venture agreements, for example, or through consolidation initiatives such as the one between Air France and KLM in 2003.