Air New Zealand has today announced it will commence reciprocal codeshare flights with Air China effective from 1 July 2007.
The agreement will see Air China codeshare on Air New Zealand's services between Shanghai and Auckland and selected Trans-tasman services. In return Air New Zealand will code-share on Air China's International services between China and Australia.
"Air New Zealand is delighted to have reached agreement with our new partner and the code share will open up both the Chinese and New Zealand markets to a greater audience. We are also pleased to acknowledge that Air China will join Star Alliance in December 2007," says Group General Manager International Airline, Ed Sims.
"We've been delighted with the popularity of Air New Zealand's Shanghai service and demand on the route continues to grow. Today's announcement is a sign of our commitment to the China/New Zealand market and positions the airline to take advantage of the Beijing Olympics in 2008 " says Mr Sims.
Over the past year visitor arrivals from China have increased by 24% to 116,000 whilst the number of Kiwis visiting China has also increased by 5% to 53,000.
Air New Zealand currently operates three times weekly services to Shanghai increasing to five times weekly from 29 October 2007.
ENDS
Issued by Air New Zealand Public Affairs. Phone: 09 336 2761
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Air New Zealand is proud to be a member of Star Alliance. The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award, Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, bmi, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Aegean Airlines, Air India, Brussels Airlines and TAM have been announced as future members. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers 19,500 daily flights to 1,071 airports in 171 countries.
For more information about Air New Zealand visit www.airnewzealand.com and for more information about Star Alliance visit www.staralliance.com.
