Asiana Airlines and Air China have agreed to expand their codeshare agreement to cover eleven major China-Korea routes. The expansion creates a comprehensive air service offering for passengers traveling between the two Asian countries.

In this first phase of expansion beyond their current agreement, Air China and Asiana will code-share on the eleven largest routes they operate between Korea and China. Eventually the two carriers plan to extend their code-share cooperation to cover all China-Korea routes.

Mrs. Lan Zhang Lan, Senior Vice President of Air China, commented, “This new code-share expansion is a milestone in Northeast Asian air travel. It will enable Air China to offer more China-Korea routes than any other Chinese carrier, giving our passengers the greatest convenience and choice when traveling to and from Korea.”

Asiana Airlines, which has served the Chinese capital Beijing since 1994, now becomes the largest of the Korean carriers operating China-Korea routes, with 172 flights a week.

The code-share agreement will expand to cover nine cities in China, namely Beijing, Qingdao, Weihai, Tianjin, Dalian, Yanji, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Hangzhou. On the Korean side, the agreement will cover its two principal points, Seoul/Incheon and Busan. This new agreement is a significant addition to the current cooperation between the two carriers on just two routes, Hangzhou-Seoul/Incheon and Bejing-Busan. The additional code-share routes will be operated with 151 total weekly frequencies.

Asiana Airlines is currently a member of the world’s largest airline alliance, Star Alliance, which Air China will also join next year.
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