UAE – Mubasher: Italian airline Alitalia said it will not renew its partnerships and joint projects related to cargo and passenger accords with the Air France-KLM Group.

According to the European Commission, the agreement was signed in 2009 and is scheduled to end in January 2017.

This follows the Italian carrier’s recently signed agreement with UAE-based Etihad Airways, under which the UAE carrier owned a 49% stake in the Milan-based airline.

“These agreements are no longer beneficial, either commercially or strategically, to the new Alitalia,” CEO Silvano Cassano said in the statement, adding that the deals were negotiated when Alitalia “was in a very different position” and “favour the other party.”