China Eastern and China Airline will soon extend their cooperation to some key areas such as code sharing.
According to China Eastern Chairman Liu Shaoyong, "That means that when passengers take flight with China Eastern, they will also be receiving service from China Airlines."
The two airliners’ cooperation can be traced back to January 2003, when they provided service for the first charter flight across the Taiwan Straits for the Chinese New Year.
A total of 5.41 million passengers traveled between Taiwan and the mainland over 2009, up 16.3 % year-on-year. About 3.12 million passengers chose to travel by air, and the mainland airliners handled 1.23 million passengers, up 590% over 2008.
China Airlines currently flies to 89 destination cities in 29 countries, and has a fleet of 66 aircraft, including 46 passenger jets and 20 freighters.
Note that China Eastern is the last of the nation’s three major airlines without membership in any alliance, It will make its final choice by the end of this month.
China Daily reports that China Eastern Airlines has made joining one of the three international airline networks – Star Alliance, Sky Team or Oneworld – a priority.