For an airline seeking growth, the traditional answer has often been straightforward: add aircraft, increase frequencies, or launch new routes. But some of the most valuable growth opportunities may exist beyond the airline’s own network.

Airline commercial partnerships, including interline agreements, Special Prorate Agreements (SPAs), codeshares, and other commercial partnerships, can allow carriers to expand their market reach without adding a single aircraft.

When structured correctly, these agreements provide access to new passengers, destinations, and points of sale while improving airline network connectivity across the airline’s existing network. A regional carrier, for example, may suddenly become relevant to passengers originating thousands of miles away because a partner airline can feed traffic into its network.

This makes network expansion through partnerships an important part of an airline’s overall commercial strategy, particularly when entering new markets or increasing access to international connecting traffic.

But simply having commercial agreements is not enough.

Airlines should regularly evaluate whether each partnership is generating truly incremental and profitable revenue. How much traffic is the partner contributing? Which markets are benefiting? What is the average fare? Are prorate conditions still competitive? Is the agreement stimulating new traffic or simply shifting passengers from higher-yielding channels?

These questions become particularly important as agreements mature. Commercial conditions negotiated several years ago may no longer reflect today’s competitive environment, network structure, or passenger behavior.

Airlines should therefore assess interline agreement performance, partner contribution, connecting passenger volumes, average fares, and revenue by market to understand the true commercial value of each relationship.

The strongest airlines therefore manage their partnership portfolios dynamically. Underperforming agreements are reviewed, successful relationships are expanded, and new partners are identified based on clearly defined network and revenue opportunities.

A well-managed airline partnership strategy can help carriers identify underserved markets, increase connectivity, and generate [incremental airline revenue] without requiring additional aircraft or new routes.

Commercial partnerships should ultimately be viewed as extensions of an airline’s network strategy.

An aircraft determines where an airline can physically fly. A well-designed partnership strategy can determine how far its commercial network can reach.

A Real-World Perspective

In one engagement, we supported a large Colombian carrier in reviewing and restructuring its interline agreements. The objective was not simply to increase connecting passenger volumes, but to improve the commercial quality of those relationships by reducing unnecessary commission costs and ensuring that the traffic being generated contributed positively to the airline’s overall revenue performance and not diluting from the carrier’s own sales.

The revised approach helped increase sales and contributed to stronger load factors across both domestic and international routes while maintaining healthy average fares. The experience reinforced an important principle: a successful airline partnership should not be measured solely by the number of passengers it generates. The real measure is whether it delivers incremental, profitable traffic that strengthens the airline’s network without unnecessarily diluting existing revenue.

This is why airline partnership profitability should be assessed alongside passenger volumes, rather than treating traffic growth as the only measure of success.

B+B Perspective

At B+B Solutions, we believe sustainable airline growth is achieved by combining commercial strategy, operational excellence, and practical execution. Our goal is not simply to identify opportunities. We work alongside our clients to implement solutions that deliver measurable results.

Our approach to airline commercial strategy focuses on identifying opportunities to strengthen partnerships, improve network connectivity, increase incremental revenue, and support sustainable growth across the airline’s network.

Ready to Expand Your Airline’s Network Through Commercial Partnerships?

Is your airline getting the full commercial value from its interline agreements, codeshares, and other partnership opportunities?

Let’s discuss your current partnership strategy and identify opportunities to expand network reach