Continental Airlines and SkyTeam partner Air France on Saturday will begin sharing codes on flights from their respective hubs on each side of the Atlantic to 33 U.S. and European destinations. The two carriers will have come full circle since ending a codeshare pact nearly three years ago.
Effective Feb. 26, Continental will place its code on Air France flights between Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and 12 European and Middle Eastern destinations, including Dubai, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Toulouse and Vienna. In exchange, Air France will place its code on Continental flights from hubs in Houston and Newark to 21 U.S. cities. The two carriers already offer reciprocal frequent flyer programs and airport lounge access and expect to add more codeshare flights in the coming months.
The newly enhanced marketing agreement represents the next step in an oscillating relationship between Air France and Continental. The two had partnered in the late 1990s, but wound up on opposing sides of alliance competition when Air France and then-Continental foe Delta Air Lines struck a deal in 1999 as a precursor to the SkyTeam alliance
(BTN, July 5, 1999).
Despite the conflict of interest, Continental initially maintained codeshare flights with Air France. Cooperation between the two carriers, however, gradually was phased out and codeshare ties officially were severed March 31, 2002
(BTN, April 8, 2002).
Less than five months later, existing partners Continental and Northwest Airlines announced a new domestic alliance with Delta
(BTN, Sept. 9, 2002), positioning Continental to rebuild its relationship with Air France. By the following year, Air France signed a deal to acquire KLM Royal Dutch Airlines--an ally of both Continental and Northwest. Last summer, all three carriers officially joined Air France and Delta in the SkyTeam alliance and prepared to coordinate new waves of codeshare flights
(BTN, Sept. 20, 2004).
Like its U.S. peers, Continental is focusing on more lucrative international routes as domestic revenues remain under extreme competitive pressure. In addition to the renewed Air France codeshare, it also is expanding its own operations to several European destinations. Continental's new corporate discounting policy simplifies international contractual terms and, according to the carrier, provides most corporate accounts a higher net effective discount on overseas flights
(BTN, Feb. 7). Thus far, however, Continental's new discounting structure excludes partner-operated codeshare flights.