SIA, SilkAir ink codeshare pact with Air France-KLM

Singapore Airlines (SIA) and its regional subsidiary SilkAir have signed an initial pact for operating codeshare flights with Air France-KLM.
The move, which will provide seamless connectivity the customers of these carriers to and from Australia, Southeast Asia and Europe, is expected to benefit passengers of the domestic carrier Vistara as well, which has a similar arrangement with both SIA and SilkAir.
In the joint venture carrier Vistara, Tata Sons holds 51 per cent stake while the rest 49 per cent is held by SIA.
The codeshare agreement will be effective from April 27, a release said today.
Codesharing allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless transport to destinations where it has no presence.

The agreement is aimed at providing customers more options and seamless connectivity when travelling between Australia, Southeast Asia and Europe, the release said.

Under the agreement, which is subject to regulatory approvals, SIA will add its IATA flight code 'SQ' to Air France-operated flights beyond Paris to 10 destinations -- Aberdeen, Bordeaux, Edinburgh, Lisbon, Lyon, Madrid, Marseille, Newcastle, Nice and Toulouse, the release said.
Air France, in turn, will add its IATA code 'AF' to SIA-operated flights beyond Singapore to Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, as well as on SilkAir-operated flights to Kuala Lumpur and Penang in Malaysia, and Phuket in Thailand, it said.

According to the release, both SIA and Air France-KLM will later explore the opportunity to expand the codeshare to other airlines within their respective groups.
In addition, the airlines will also explore the possibility for Singapore Airlines loyalty programme 'KrisFlyer' and Air France-KLM's frequent flyer programme 'Blue' members to earn and redeem miles when travelling on the codeshare flight segments, it said.