Future SkyTeam partner SAS’s new codeshare with Delta Air Lines is facing objections from US operator JetBlue Airways, which claims its own US-European codeshare effort is being held up by European Union member states.
SAS is set to joint SkyTeam on 1 September as a result of the investment by Air France-KLM Group in SAS’s restructuring effort.
The Scandinavian carrier jointly filed with Delta in June a request to US authorities to approve an extensive codeshare agreement.
This includes services via SAS’s Copenhagen and Stockholm hubs to such destinations as Sarajevo, Tirana and Tivat – cities respectively in Bosnia, Albania and Montenegro. These states are not in the EU, although they are European Common Aviation Area members.
JetBlue is seeking to offer connections to Italy and Croatia, via Serbia, through its own codeshare with Air Serbia, but says it has run into objections from both Italian and Croatian authorities.
“The fact that JetBlue is being refused these codeshare authorisations by EU member states demonstrates a remarkable asymmetry in reciprocity that must be addressed,” says JetBlue in a filing to the US Department of Transportation.
JetBlue gives little detail about the objections, but indicates that the spat centres on “insufficient traffic rights” – an explanation which, it claims, “does not pass merit”.
It argues that its proposed operation is “similar” to that sought by Delta-SAS.
Delta-SAS is seeking to serve Bosnia, Albania and Montenegro via EU member states, although the codeshare also covers operations to the EU via Norway which is a European Common Aviation Area country.
