China Southern Airlines (CSA) signed an agreement with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Thursday in Guangzhou to collaborate on code-sharing and preferential treatment for regular passengers.
Under the agreement, flights from Beijing to Amsterdam operated by the CSA, China's only operator of the route, will increase to five a week, three more than previously.
New Shanghai-Amsterdam routes will be opened, and the two partners will start code-sharing through exchanging a number of seats on Beijing-Amsterdam and Shanghai-Amsterdam flights starting September 1.
Cooperation in freight service will also be carried out without adding more flights for the two sides.
CSA is one of China's three leading air company groups. It handles one-fourth of the domestic market. It has 109 planes including 81 Boeings and 20 Airbuses, and operates 361 domestic and overseas air routes connecting Guangzhou with 87 other cities around the world.
(People's Daily 07/13/2001)
