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The union of Air France and KLM is to go ahead, creating
a new European airline that may become the biggest in
Europe. It is also planned that the Italian carrier
Alitalia would join the combined group at a later date.
The new group is to be called Air France-KLM, although
the two airlines will continue to fly under their current
brands and will maintain their existing Paris Charles
de Gaulle and Amsterdam Schipol hubs.
According to report released by the airlines, in the
2002/02 financial year the two airlines had combined
sales of 19.2 billion euros. They hope the new deal
would mean cost savings of up to 495 million euros a
year by the fifth year of the merger. The airlines claim
passengers would benefit from a larger range of destinations
and more convenient connections.
Source: Air France/KLM
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