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Australian Qantas expands agreement with China Airlines
April 3, 2013, 9:52 am

[Getty Images]

Qantas have said they want to strengthen their presence in Asia [Getty Images]

Australia’s Qantas Airways has announced an expansion of its codeshare agreement with China Eastern Airlines.

Qantas claimed on Wednesday this will give passengers greater access to China’s major cities.

The Australian airline will codeshare on China Eastern’s daily Melbourne-Shanghai services as well as its Sydney-Nanjing-Beijing services from May, said Qantas.

Qantas will also begin codesharing on China Eastern’s domestic Shanghai-Nanjing flights.

Passengers can choose 17 direct Qantas or China Eastern services between Australia and mainland China each week, with onward connections via Shanghai to 11 domestic destinations.

The airline says it also has codeshare services on China Eastern flights between Singapore and Shanghai, with connections to Qantas flights operating from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

Andrew Hogg, Qantas International, Manager China, said the additional codeshare services were part of the company’s broader strategy to strengthen its presence in Asia.

“We said we would expand Qantas’s Asian network through our airline partnerships and were now delivering on that promise,” Hogg said.

“The new codeshare arrangements provide Qantas customers with a daily, non-stop connection from Melbourne to the global business hub of Shanghai, alongside Qantas’ established Sydney-Shanghai flights.”

Xinhua