KLM joins SkyTeam Cargo alliance, Northwest, others to follow
KLM, now part of the Air France-KLM merged airline group, has joined the SkyTeam Cargo alliance, as the big international alliance continues to talk to at least three potential new airline members.
Northwest Airlines Cargo said Thursday it would also join the SkyTeam Cargo alliance by the end of the year.
Ken Choi, president of Korean Air Cargo, another alliance carrier, told a press conference at the Air Cargo Forum in Bilbao Thursday that the SkyTeam Cargo alliance has held talks with China Southern. He expects the Chinese carrier to join the alliance at about the end of next year.
Marc Boudier, executive vice president of Air France Cargo, said Russia’s Aeroflot has signed a letter of intent to join the SkyTeam alliance, and will look at cooperating on the cargo side.
Current confirmed members of the SkyTeam Cargo alliance are: KLM Cargo; Air France Cargo; Korean Air Cargo; Delta Air Logistics; Aerom'xico Cargo, of Mexico; Alitalia Cargo; and CSA Cargo, of the Czech Republic.
Northwest Airlines Cargo and KLM, who have cooperated on the transatlantic route, said they would continue to work together after KLM’s entry into the alliance.
Last year, KLM carried more than 490,000 tons of freight. It ranks sixth among the International Air Transport Association airlines when measured in international revenue-ton-kilometers flown.