Qantas, Air China apply for arrangement
Apr. 10, 2006
Qantas Airways and Air China have applied for a code share arrangement on flights between Sydney and Beijing.
The agreement will allow Air China to sell seats on Qantas flights.
In a letter of application to the International Air Services Commission, Qantas said the pair planned to begin code sharing from May 15.
"Air China currently operates flights between Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing, and Sydney/Melbourne, and intends to introduce these code share services in order to enhance its non-stop service offering between Beijing and Australia," it said.
The news comes after market rumours re-surfaced last week that Qantas was looking to merge its trans Tasman operations with rival Air New Zealand Ltd.A report in a NZ newspaper said Qantas and Air NZ were close to hatching a deal to code-share flights across the Tasman to help off-set rising fuel costs.