Delta Air Lines Inc. and its international partners are reaching for their checkbooks to forge a deeper global alliance. The Atlanta-based carrier and its codeshare partner China Eastern Airlines Corp. will each buy 10 percent stakes in Air France-KLM Group, another member of the SkyTeam group of airlines. In addition, Air France will take a stake in the U.K.’s Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., in which Delta is a major investor. The tighter-knit alliance strengthens Delta’s globe-straddling partnerships amid new concern over airlines’ pricing power in the U.S. With the deal, the carrier will be able to offer customers access to European capitals on traditional carriers and a hipper company in Virgin Atlantic, said Peter van der Lende, a former director of global alliances at Delta. Previously, the U.S. airline needed separate sales staffs for each of its trans-Atlantic ventures. “Delta will demand and will have more influence over Air France and KLM,” said van der Lende, who also used to work at KLM. “That is what Delta wants. They don’t want to have marketing alliances and hope for the best.” Branson’s Stake The U.S. and Chinese holdings in Air France-KLM will be acquired via a capital increase totaling 751 million euros ($876 million), while the Paris-based group will buy 31 percent of Virgin Atlantic for about 220 million pounds ($287 million), the four companies said in a joint statement Thursday. Delta, Air France-KLM, Virgin and Italy’s Alitalia SpA also plan to forge a single commercial venture out of two existing partnerships, while Air France and China Eastern will expand their own tie-up. Delta owns 3.2 percent of China Eastern and 49 percent of Virgin Atlantic, where billionaire founder Richard Branson’s stake will be cut to 20 percent following the Air France deal. The interlocking ties will provide the closest bonds yet between major airlines from different continents in an industry where scope for outright mergers is limited by government-imposed caps on foreign ownership. The expanded joint-venture deal should allow the carriers, all members of the SkyTeam global alliance, to coordinate timetables and fares on some routes while combining frequent flier programs and co-locating airport facilities to cut costs. “With Delta and Virgin Atlantic we are reinforcing our trans-Atlantic alliance, making us the No. 1 alliance between Europe and the U.S. in terms of traffic,” Air France-KLM Chief Executive Officer Jean-Marc Janaillac said in the statement. “With China Eastern, we are consolidating our position on a high-growth market.” ‘Building Blocks’ Under current arrangements, Air France-KLM, Delta and Alitalia have one joint venture and Delta and Virgin Atlantic are tied together via another. Branson, 67, said in a letter posted on the Virgin Atlantic website that cooperation with Air France-KLM will help provide feeder traffic from mainland Europe together with onward routes there. He added: “As I get a little older, I want to be certain that all the necessary building blocks are in place for Virgin Atlantic to continue to prosper and grow for the next 50 years.” Delta will take a seat on the board of Air France-KLM, Europe’s biggest airline by passenger traffic, which will see the French government’s holding diluted from the current 18 percent. The U.S. giant also plans to pursue a joint venture with China Eastern on trans-Pacific routes, should a U.S.-China open skies accord be negotiated. Delta is in the process of acquiring a 49 percent stake in Grupo Aeromexico SAB, building on a smaller holding, and said the Mexican operator is a candidate for inclusion in the expanded trans-Atlantic alliance. Aeromexico declined to comment. Delta also has a 9.5 percent holding in Brazilian carrier Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA. The new arrangements should be concluded next year, assuming they clear antitrust hurdles, allowing them to be implemented from 2019 at the latest.