Swissair, Delta, Sabena, Austrian end trans-Atlantic alliance

(AP) -- Swissair, Delta Air Lines, Sabena and Austrian Airlines have agreed to disband their trans-Atlantic alliance, Swissair parent SAirGroup said Wednesday.

(AP) — Swissair, Delta Air Lines, Sabena and Austrian Airlines have agreed to disband their trans-Atlantic alliance, Swissair parent SAirGroup said Wednesday.

The dissolution of the Atlantic Excellence code-sharing agreement “was foreseeable following Delta’s decision to cooperate with Air France,” SAirGroup said in a statement.

The process “should be completed within the next 12 months after various
details have been amicably resolved.”

Delta and the French national carrier plan to align their cargo and passenger services as part of a long-term deal to form a major global alliance.

SAirGroup said it has been involved in “ongoing and extensive” discussions with American Airlines on expanding cooperation.

Both Swissair and Belgium’s Sabena plan to introduce codeshare flights with American on North Atlantic routes from the end of October, it noted.

“At the beginning of next year the new partners also plan to successively introduce various connecting flights.”

Last month, Austrian Airlines said it was pulling out of a European grouping with Swissair and Sabena — the Qualiflyer Group — to join Germany’s Lufthansa and U.S. partner United Airlines.