Air France KLM and FlySafair have entered into an interline agreement that took effect on December 11.

Pieter Bootsma, Executive Vice President Strategy of Air France KLM, made the announcement at KLM’s birthday bash on Tuesday night, where the airline celebrated 80 years in the South African market.

Bootsma said that Air France-KLM is very happy with the performance of its routes into South Africa, while the Amsterdam-Cape Town flight in particular has been a ‘stellar’ performer with 91.4% load factors year round.

The agreement allows travel agents to issue just one ticket with both FA and AF-KL sectors. The ability to purchase both tickets together is also a major benefit for travellers, who no longer have to worry about forfeiting their domestic flight booking in the event that their inbound flight is delayed. The agreement also means that travellers can connect from FlySafair’s domestic flights on to Air France and KLM flights into Europe and onwards without having to gather their luggage and check in again.

Pieter told Tourism Update that the agreement provided more seamless connections to its travellers into and out of South Africa.

Kirby Gordon, Head of Sales and Distribution at FlySafair, said the agreement was a very significant milestone for the airline.