CAI Alitalia SpA has signed a joint venture agreement with Air France- KLM and Delta Air Lines that ramps up the Italian carrier’s long-haul flights to the US. CAI Alitalia chief executive Rocco Sabelli called the joint venture “fundamental for the definitive revival” of the Italian carrier.

Sabelli said there were no plans to merge CAI Alitalia with Air France, which already owns 25 per cent of the carrier. “The joint venture is a way of ramping up operational scale while keeping corporate balance sheets of member companies sustainable,” Sabelli said, adding that he hoped more airlines, including smaller ones, would join the venture.