Air France-KLM's Asian partnerships: JAL codeshare ends, China Southern A380 & Xiamen to Amsterdam

Air France-KLM is seeking to have similar tenure in Asia to what it has across the Atlantic. Europe-Asia routes have not developed the same depth in partnerships as Europe-North America, but they growing - and AF-KLM is being left behind. IAG and Finnair are with JAL and IAG is also likely to partner with Qatar Airways in a JV. Lufthansa has a JV with ANA and a proposal with Air China, in addition to using new long-haul LCC unit Eurowings to spur growth. Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines have Europe-focused partnerships with Qatar and Turkish Airlines respectively. ANA may partner with Turkish as well. Korean Air has an evolving partnership with Czech Airlines.

AF-KLM meanwhile has a loose partnership with Etihad Airways for greater Asia (and beyond) access but a JV has yet to emerge despite much talk. A longstanding AF-JAL partnership is declining as key codeshares end. KLM has a new partnership with Xiamen Airlines, which will make Amsterdam one of its inaugural intercontinental routes. The relationship is delicate, and Xiamen is majority-owned by China Southern, which is expected to bring its A380 to Amsterdam, creating further over-capacity. Another opportunity is for cooperation with Malaysia Airlines, which is restructuring and could benefit from greater partnership access.