Air France had a short stay at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. It launched flights to Paris in May 2001, but shut down eight months later. The route was a casualty of the industry downturn that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

But that doesn't mean Air France has no interest in this market, as evidenced by the visit by Air France KLM executive Christine Ourmières to North Texas earlier this month.

Ourmières, New York-based U.S. vice president and general manager for Air France and KLM, joined with others from KLM, Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines to help sell KLM's service to Amsterdam and beyond.

The carriers, members of the SkyTeam airline alliance, have formed a joint venture to sell their services as a single entity. They were calling corporate customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to try to increase their business.

Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines merged in 2004. While they operate as separate brands, they've combined a number of functions and jointly market their services. Ourmières said in an interview that for now, Air France KLM will offer only the daily flight to Amsterdam from D/FW.

"That's our primary focus, making sure that KLM operations are profitable. We're in a crisis, so it's very unlikely that today we will make a decision of reopening or opening a new gateway," Ourmières said.