<p>The analysis of the collaborative entry mode in the internationalization process is becoming increasingly important. Networks and relationships with foreign partners are important in the process of international expansion. They contribute knowledge (and other types of resources) from their local markets and also from their own experience of internationalization. However, it is necessary to delve deeper into the relational mechanisms behind a greater propensity to use a collaborative mode of entry to internationalization. This paper aims to contribute to the literature on networks and business internationalization through the analyses more than 60,000 internationalization actions in the global airline industry. The results show that the use of cooperation as a means to international growth is related to the mobilization of local market knowledge and internationalization know-how possessed by the partners. This relationship is contingent upon the internationalizing firm’s own endowment of social capital or relational skills in the case of the mobilization of internationalization know-how, but not in the case of local market knowledge. Specifically, it is conditioned by previous experience in cooperation, the size of the network and the position in the network structure.</p>