The next step forward is again a complete joint venture. When airlines enter into a joint venture, they become a large airline that cooperates on everything from planning to pricing, and that divides revenues among themselves. The details of how this type of agreement works are attributable to the airlines concerned. Smaller airlines have generally entered into interline agreements with large network operators moving to their markets. Most new low-cost companies, which sell only directly to consumers (and not through global agencies or distribution systems), do not support the interline at all. For example, one of the last codeshares announced is between Lufthansa and Vistara. Lufthansa is heading to Delhi, but has no network inside India. Thanks to this codeshare, passengers from any Lufthansa destination can book in a number of new cities in India, including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi and Pune. This is an evolution of an earlier interconnection agreement between the two airlines, which implies a deeper relationship. Until now, only major network operators such as United Airlines and Lufthansa had electronic ticket interconnection agreements, but IATA`s mandate to remove paper tickets at the end of 2007 changed this situation by requiring smaller airlines to introduce electronic tickets.
If there is no interline ticketing agreement, two separate tickets must be issued and passengers must pick up their luggage and take it to the connecting company for check-in. Interline routes such as this one are more risky for travellers, as the second airline may not be aware of inbound flight delays or problems and is less likely to authorize a toll-free change of booking in the event of a loss of the route. There may also be a problem if the baggage is lost and the traveller wishes to be sent to them later. If two airlines have an interline agreement, they usually take care of check-in and baggage for passengers on the other side. This means that travellers must check in only once for all flights on the itinerary and that their luggage will be delivered from the first airline to the second, without having to pick them up and hand them over manually.