KLMhas appointed former KLM UK chief executive Henny Essenberg to head its new joint passenger initiative with Alitalia.
Essenberg, who returned to KLM’s Amsterdam headquarters last year to be replaced by Floris Baron van Pallandt, will be managing director of the venture, based in Rome. He is currently executive vice-president network organiser for KLM.
The passenger joint venture revolves around the two carriers’ three hubs of Amsterdam, Milan Malpensa and Rome and covers joint flights, airport co-operation and marketing.
Essenberg will report in to the KLM/Alitalia Alliance Committee, which focuses on policy and guidelines. Decisions on individual country managers will be made by the end of the year.
UK flights from Stansted are already operated jointly and the carriers are looking to co-operate more fully from Heathrow and Gatwick.