KLM Severs Ties with Alitalia, but Northwest Stays Friendly

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines ended its partnership with Italy's government sponsored airline, Alitalia, on April 28. KLM cited uncertainty surrounding the future of Milan's Malpensa airport as a hub and delays in Alitalia's privatization, originally due by June 30, as reasons for dissolving the partnership. KLM also is demanding that Alitalia repay 100 million euros the Dutch carrier invested in the development of the Malpensa airport. In response to the European turmoil, KLM's U.S. partner, Northwest Airlines, issued a statement reassuring customers, WorldPerks members and people concerned about their Australia vacations that it does not intend to end its partnership with Alitalia. Northwest also advises that the partnership between Northwest and KLM will not be impacted.Also, watch out for the new airline to come out of Australia - V Australia. This should make it cheaper to get to the US.