Delta Expands Partnership with China Eastern, China Southern

Carrier thanks Civil Aviation Administration of China for approving expanded codeshare agreement on Detroit, Seattle flights to Beijing

News provided by

Delta Air Lines

Feb 22, 2012, 09:00 ET

ATLANTA, Feb. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today announced expanded codeshare agreements with China Eastern and China Southern airlines, two of the largest carriers in the People's Republic of China, which will provide more options for customers traveling between the United States and China.

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The agreements, recently approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, will allow both Chinese carriers to place their codes and flight numbers on Delta-operated flights between Seattle and Beijing. In addition, China Eastern will place its code and flight numbers on Delta-operated flights between Detroit and Beijing.

"We thank the Civil Aviation Administration of China for approving our expanded partnership with China Eastern and China Southern, which provides significant new options for customers of all three carriers and will enhance travel and trade between our nations," said Vinay Dube, Delta's senior vice president – Asia Pacific.

The airlines' agreement already allows China Eastern to codeshare on Delta's flight between Detroit and Shanghai; and allows Delta to codeshare on China Eastern-operated flights from New York and Los Angeles to Shanghai as well as China Southern's service between Los Angeles and Guangzhou.

In addition, once the expanded codeshare is implemented, Delta and China Eastern will provide codeshare service to 34 cities within the U.S and China, while Delta and China Southern will provide codeshare to 18 cities in the two nations.

China Southern and China Eastern are both members of the SkyTeam international alliance, which also includes Delta. Later this year, Xiamen Airlines, which operates a network of domestic and regional services throughout China and Asia and whose major shareholder is China Southern, also will join SkyTeam.

The new codeshare approvals pave the way for increased cooperation that will enable Delta and its Chinese partners to jointly develop improved services for the mutual benefit of their customers.

Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. Delta was named by Fortune magazine as the most admired airline worldwide in its 2011 World's Most Admired Companies airline industry list, and was named the "Top Tech-Friendly U.S. Airline" by PCWorld magazine for its innovation in technology. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 342 destinations in 61 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline's service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, a world-class airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and more than 50 Delta Sky Clubs in airports worldwide. Delta is investing more than $2 billion through 2013 in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.