Jet Airways may be planning to join SkyTeam through a transatlantic joint venture with Air France KLM, Alitalia and Delta Air Lines, according to media reports.
Dow Jones, citing an inside source, said AF, AZ and DL are in talks with Jet to include the Indian carrier in the venture. The report follows a similar report in La Tribune on Wednesday, saying that AF KLM Group is in negotiations with Jet on a wide-ranging cooperation, including codesharing and the transfer of Jet’s Brussels hub to Amsterdam. This would lead to Jet’s entry into SkyTeam, the French daily said. It added that an MOU may be signed as early as this month or in April but could be postponed owing to political developments in India, where government approval is mandatory for such a partnership.
Jet operates a hub in Brussels, connecting Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi with New York JFK, Newark and Toronto Pearson. The carrier last year opened a DEL-Milan Malpensa route, in codeshare with AZ, fueling off-and-on rumors that Jet would close its Brussels operations and move them possibly to MXP, but those have never been confirmed.
SkyTeam is the only alliance with no future partner in India. Air India will join Star Alliance this year and oneworld has invited Kingfisher to join.