NEW YORK, Sept 13 (AFP) - The Skyteam airline alliance announced Monday that Dutch airline KLM and US carriers Northwest and Continental will join from Wednesday, making it the second biggest in the world behind the Star Alliance.
The nine carriers in Skyteam -- the three newcomers plus Aeromexico, Air France, Alitalia, CSA Czech Airlines, Delta Airlines, Korean Air -- will account for about 24.6 percent of the world market, according to International Air Travel Association figures.
The Star Alliance, which includes Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, ANA of Japan, Thai Airways, United Airlines, Air New Zealand and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has 26.7 percent.
One World, which includes American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, Quantas and Aer Lingus, makes up 18.3 percent.
Each seeks to attract customers by offering joint air miles programmes while seeking to profit from codesharing agreements.
Skyteam was created in June, 2000 with Air France taking a leading role.
"When we launched Skyteam we where the latest alliance so obviously the smallest, but today with three major carriers we are definitely the leader in America and in Europe and across the Atlantic route," said Air France chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta.
The nine carriers in the alliance transport about 341 million passengers a year, Skyteam said.
Russian airline Aeroflot signed a preliminary accord to join Skyteam in May and China Southern in August. Both could become members next year.