Air France and KLM : complementary networks

On the Africa-Middle East network, Air France and KLM are complementary.  Air France is traditionally present in West and Central Africa, while KLM has always been well-established in East Africa.

Apart from this complementarity, the two airlines coordinate their capacity to six, jointly-served destinations (Johannesburg, Lagos, Cairo, Dubai, Teheran and Nairobi), where fares can be combined.  Passengers can go one-way through Paris and return through Amsterdam or vice versa. Since winter 2006, Air France has increased capacity to South Africa through a code-sharing agreement with the South African carrier Nationwide, and has also offered flights from Kenya due to a partnership agreement with Kenya Airways.

Since May 2007, there have been new cabin interiors on all Air France long-haul flights to Africa and the Middle East, as well as its Dedicate product to and from Nouakchott, Malabo, Pointe-Noire, N'Djamena, Riyadh and Jeddah. Dedicate provides a great many benefits tailored to a professional clientele: non-stop flights, convenient schedules, fleet of dedicated aircraft - Airbus A319-ER, and many connecting opportunities via the Paris-Charles de Gaulle hub.

2009 Summer Schedule

On flights to Beirut, Air France is starting a 2^nd service, 4 times a week, bringing the number of weekly flights to this destination to 25 with 2 daily flights operated by MEA on a code-share basis;

Above all, it is services to West Africa and especially its oil and gas industry destinations which will benefit from a high increase in capacity (a 10.1% increase in ASK on routes to Africa excluding South Africa). 

As long as traffic rights are obtained, there will be a second frequency operated by Air France on a code-share basis with TAAG to Luanda. There will be a daily Dedicate service by A319 to Port Harcourt. Another frequency will be added to the Brazzaville route (4/7) and the Niamey-Ouagadougou route (also 4/7), whereas capacity will increase on the Lagos and Bangui routes, operated by larger aircraft.