'Enhanced' customer benefits for Virgin, Delta and Air France-KLM tie-up

The partnership sees up to 341 peak daily transatlantic services operating with onward connections to 238 cities in North America, 98 in continental Europe and 16 in the UK, as well as a choice of 110 non-stop transatlantic routes.

Virgin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss said he believed customers were “at the heart” of the joint venture, “where seamless connections, a greater range of flights, unrivalled customer service and increased frequent flyer benefits will reinforce its position as the choice passengers most love to fly”.

“One of the pillars of our strategy is successfully collaborating with our partners. Combining our strengths, our network, and our people allow us to achieve more together,” added Weiss.

Ed Bastian, Delta chief executive, said: “Our expanded partnership is a major step forward for all of our airlines as we deliver greater reliability, top travel benefits and leading service that our customers deserve.

“Today’s launch brings our historic, long-standing collaboration to a new level as we continue to build the partnership of choice across Europe and North America that sets us apart from the rest of the industry.”

Air France-KLM Group chief executive, Benjamin Smith, added: “Ten years after starting our joint venture with Delta, this new agreement is a major milestone that will even further reinforce our presence on the Atlantic, by allowing our passengers the choice between four major airlines combining their network for the benefit of our customers.”