Pursuing its expansion plan in the e-commerce world, Air France has signed a global sales agreement with lastminute.com, the online provider of travel and entertainment solutions. The agreement will give lastminute.com`s customers access to all Air France leisure fares across all destinations and in eight of the different countries where lastminute.com has operations (in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and South Africa).

This agreement results from a longstanding and successful relationship of the French carrier with Degriftour, France`s number one online travel agent, which was acquired by lastminute.com last year. With a presence in nine countries, 3.1 million subscriber users and a highly flexible technology platform, lastminute.com provides Air France with an ideal channel to reach the online community and with the possibility to tailor its products to each marketplace.
Georges Ben Harroche, Vice President Global Distribution of Air France, comments: “As lastminute.com is amongst the largest international e-commerce brands, our presence and co-operation with them represents a significant move towards our present and future online sales expansion. We are looking forward to this exciting opportunity of developing our relationship with the group internationally”
Brent Hoberman, CEO of lastminute.com, adds: “With record commercial performance and the huge connecting possibilities offered by its Charles de Gaulle hub, Air France belongs to the top three key players of the European airline landscape. The agreement with Air France marks a key step in the development of lastminute.com, not only in terms of revenue potential but also as a clear acknowledgment of our global expertise and prominent position in the travel industry.”
About Air France

Air France is one of the world`s major airlines.It is the third largest international passenger carrier, and the fourth largest freight carrier. It also ranks second worlwide for aircraft maintenance.
Air France offers the largest medium-haul network in Europe today in terms of daily flights, and 91 percent of its long-haul services are non-stop. Air France customers can choose from 1700 daily flights to almost 200 cities in 83 countries. Its fleet comprises 240 aircraft, including the most recent to arrive on the market.
Air France is a founding member of SkyTeam, a global airline alliance which provides customers with extensive worldwide destinations, flights and services.
About lastminute.com
Based on the idea of matching supply and demand, lastminute.com currently offers consumers last minute opportunities to acquire airline tickets, hotel rooms, package holidays, entertainment tickets, restaurant reservations, specialty services, gifts and auctions in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Spain, The Netherlands, Australia and South Africa. In October 2000, lastminute.com acquired the Degriftour Group, one of France`s leading e-travel groups. At 31 March 2001, lastminute.com had established approximately 9,147 supplier relationships, with companies such as Lufthansa, British Midland, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Forte Hotel Group, Kempinski Hotels, English National Ballet, The Royal Albert Hall, Conran Restaurants and SFX.
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