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SkyTeam Celebrates Fifth Anniversary; Members Outline Goals for Remainder of 2005 and the Next Five Years NEW YORK, June 22 /PRNewswire/ -- In celebration of its fifth anniversary, the SkyTeam alliance today reflected on accomplishments to-date and outlined strategic focus areas for its next five years and beyond. Members Aeromexico, Air France, Alitalia, Continental Airlines, CSA Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Korean Air and Northwest Airlines pledged to work together on key initiatives, including customer service enhancements, development of the alliance network to accommodate anticipated passenger growth and implementation of technology and e-Services alliance-wide. On June 22, 2000, Aeromexico, Air France, Delta Air Lines and Korean Air launched the SkyTeam alliance. "Five years ago, four carriers outlined a goal of providing more choices, better service and expanding offerings," said Jean- Cyril Spinetta, chairman and CEO, Air France-KLM. "Since that time, the alliance has surpassed those objectives and has grown dramatically in terms of members, service offerings and amenities, always maintaining our customer focus." Membership Development SkyTeam has grown from four to nine members, with the addition of CSA Czech Airlines and Alitalia in 2001 and Continental, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Northwest last September. SkyTeam signed agreements with Aeroflot and China Southern in 2004, which paved the way for their future entry into SkyTeam. Both carriers are making solid progress to fulfill the alliance's joining requirements. In addition, earlier this month, SkyTeam announced the first airlines to participate in the Associate program -- Air Europa, Copa Airlines, Kenya Airways and Tarom. "As part of our focus on the customer, SkyTeam will continue to grow in a carefully planned way that provides the most benefits to our passengers," said Yang-Ho Cho, chairman and CEO of Korean Air. Network Expansion SkyTeam has grown from a combined fleet of 979 offering 6,402 daily departures to 451 destinations in 98 countries in 2000 to a fleet of 2,069 aircraft offering 15,207 daily departures to 684 global destinations in more than 130 countries in 2005. Since its inception, SkyTeam members have been committed to providing greater connectivity to passengers via the hub-and-spokes model. Strategic network development will continue to be a key initiative, as demonstrated in the investments being made in aircraft, equipment and facilities. For example, several member airlines have placed orders for superjumbo jets that will serve the alliance's major hubs, including Incheon and CDG. The alliance is also focused on providing complementary point-to-point service to offer a network that best meets passenger needs. In addition, the alliance is currently exploring possibilities for new, larger colocated facilities at Beijing, Madrid and Tokyo. Using Technology to Enhance Passenger Services SkyTeam has grown from serving 174.3 million annual passengers as of July 2000 to serving 343.6 million annual passengers as of April 2005. Even before IATA announced its "Simplifying the Business" proposal, SkyTeam members have been investing in e-Services to improve the passenger experience. With nearly half of the agreements between members already in place, SkyTeam will offer alliance-wide interline e-ticketing by the end of the year. The alliance is also exploring the future enhancement of individual carriers' kiosks for all alliance customers and the use of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) in baggage tracking. "Our focus for the next five years is improving service for our customers and providing them with new product offerings," said Gerald Grinstein, CEO of Delta Air Lines. "With further progress in the area of e-Services, closer coordination among members and more service options for passengers, we are giving our customers even more reasons to choose SkyTeam." About SkyTeam SkyTeam is the global airline alliance partnering nine members, including Aeromexico, Air France (NYSE:AKH), Alitalia, Continental Airlines (NYSE:CAL), CSA Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL), KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Korean Air and Northwest Airlines (NYSE:NWB). Through one of the world's most extensive hub networks, SkyTeam offers its 343.6 million annual passengers a worldwide system of more than 15,000 daily flights covering all major destinations. Visit SkyTeam on the Web at http://www.skyteam.com/ . DATASOURCE: SkyTeam CONTACT: SkyTeam Communications, +1-646-935-4161 Web site: http://www.skyteam.com/

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