American Airlines is expanding its relationship with China’s largest airline to make it easier for U.S. travelers to access destinations in the country beyond Beijing and Shanghai, the company said Wednesday.
The move comes more than a year after American invested $200 million in China Southern Airlines, giving the Fort Worth-based carrier a toehold in the fast-growing Chinese aviation market that’s projected to become the world’s biggest within the next decade.
“We are very pleased with the progress we have made so far in our newly formed relationship with the largest airline in Asia,” American president Robert Isom said in a statement. “With the opening of Beijing Daxing International Airport in 2019, and the ability to cooperate fully with China Southern, we are incredibly excited about American’s future in the Chinese market.”
The expanded codeshare partnership will make it easier for U.S. travelers to China, and Chinese travelers visiting the U.S., to make connecting flights that involve legs on both American and China Southern on a single itinerary. The two airlines will also be able to market and sell tickets on each other’s flights on selected routes through their own websites and channels.
It builds on an initial codeshare announced in January that currently covers 14 cities in China and six in the U.S.
China Southern is China’s largest airline, with 3,000 daily flights to 224 destinations in 40 countries and regions. The carrier said earlier this month that it plans to leave the SkyTeam Alliance, one of the world’s three major airline alliances that includes American's rival, Delta Air Lines.
The move had prompted speculation China Southern would soon join American in the Oneworld Alliance, although no definitive announcements have been made.
Wednesday’s announcement deepens the relationship between American and China Southern and will provide easier access to an additional 14 Chinese destinations beyond Beijing and Shanghai for American travelers. In total, American will have codeshare access to 20 cities beyond Beijing and Shanghai.
China Southern passengers will be able to connect onto American flights feeding 21 U.S. cities from Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. That includes codeshares on flights to DFW International Airport from Los Angeles and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The two airlines will also begin codeshares on select long-haul trans-Pacific flights, with China Southern able to sell tickets on flights operated by American from DFW and Los Angeles to Beijing and Shanghai.
Passengers on the two airlines will begin receiving reciprocal frequent flyer benefits and lounge access in early 2019.
The growing partnership comes as American continues to tune its Asian network after recently dropping money-losing flights from Chicago to Beijing and scaling back its Chicago to Tokyo service to three days a week.
American operates one flight a day to both Shanghai and Beijing from DFW Airport.
