Launched in April 2009, the multi-party agreement created a single, coordinated network for customers flying across the Atlantic, allowing the member airlines to share revenues and costs on their trans-Atlantic routes.

According to Alitalia, through the four-way joint venture, passengers have convenient access to the world's trans-Atlantic network, which offers almost 250 flights and approximately 55,000 seats each day, now including 20 daily trans-Atlantic flights to 5 US destinations from Rome and Milan Malpensa airports.

With Alitalia's addition, the joint venture represents approximately 26 percent of total trans-Atlantic capacity, with annual revenues estimated at more than $10billion. The joint venture's geographic scope includes all flights between North America and Europe, between Amsterdam and India and between North America and Tahiti.

Rocco Sabelli, CEO of Alitalia, said: "Today marks an important milestone in Alitalia's development plan. Trans-Atlantic traffic is the most strategic and competitive marketplace. We are proud to be partnering with the world's leading airlines in a joint venture which the whole industry looks at as the benchmark."

Richard Anderson, CEO of Delta, said: "Delta's partnership with Europe's leading airlines has been a great success and has enabled us to add new destinations and convenience for customers across the US and Europe. The addition of Alitalia to our joint venture will further bolster our ability to optimize resources, protect revenues and provide more benefits for our employees and shareholders."

Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, CEO of Air France-KLM, said: “The trans-Atlantic joint venture has been strengthened by the arrival of Alitalia, which adds the Italian market, the third biggest in Europe, to the JV and also gives it access to the Rome-Fiumicino hub.”

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