AIR FRANCE has celebrated the recent approval of its strategic alliance with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines by launching the new Air France KLM company on European and US markets. Although shares in KLM will continue to be traded in the short-term until the 42 million shares, acquired by Air France over the past week, are formally handed over, this marks the end of an era for the Dutch airline. The new shares, which were launched on the Amsterdam Euronext exchange by Air France chief executive officer Jean-Cyril Spinetta last week, are initially being traded under the Air France name. The merger of the two European giants represents the first cross-border integration of national airlines in Europe since the formation of Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) in the early 1950s.
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