Delta expands partnership with Chinese airlines

ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines is expanding its partnership with China Southern and China Eastern airlines.

The deal with the airlines, two of China’s largest, will make flying easier for anyone traveling between the United States and China, Delta said. According to the official news release:

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.

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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.

“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,” Vinay Dube, Delta’s senior vice president – Asia Pacific, said in a news release.