P.M. BRIEFING : Air France, Lufthansa Join Forces
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PARIS — Air France and West Germany’s Lufthansa agreed today to cooperate on everything from catering to aircraft purchases in a move designed to better prepare the world’s two biggest airlines for the year 2000.
“Both companies know that to face up to the competition, we have to adapt,” said Air France Chairman Bernard Attali.
State-owned Lufthansa and Air France rank second and third in the world respectively in terms of passengers carried on international flights. British Airways is the largest.
Under the terms of the deal Attali signed with Lufthansa Chairman Heinz Ruhnau, each airline will maintain its separate identity and continue to compete for most routes. But they will extend existing cooperation agreements--including reservation systems, aircraft maintenance and flights to West Berlin--to cover a wide spectrum of joint services.
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