According to Indian press reports citing the Press Trust of India (PTI), a consortium including Air France-KLM, Delta Air Lines and Jet Airways has expressed interest in submitting a bid as part of the privatisation process of national carrier Air India. An anonymous source confirmed the report to PTI, while Jet Airways has declined to comment on what it calls “speculations”.

Air France-KLM and Jet Airways signed an ‘Enhanced Cooperation Agreement’ in November for the development of operations between Europe and India. The agreement, described as the first of its kind on the India-Europe market, strengthens the existing partnership between the three airlines launched in 2014.

The initial cooperation was expanded in 2016 with an extensive code-share agreement for connections between Europe and North America and Jet Airways’ hubs at Mumbai and Delhi in India via Air France-KLM’s hubs at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol.

In addition to the airlines’ enhanced cooperation agreement, Air France-KLM Cargo and Jet Airways Cargo signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation in the cargo sector.

Reports in the Indian press indicate that the government plans to break up the Air India group prior to launching the privatisation procedure. Air India Express and AISATS (the subsidiary jointly owned by Air India and Singapore Airlines) would be sold together. Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL) and Air India Air Transport Services Ltd (AIATSL) would be sold separately.