Late last month I wrote about the interesting rumor that China Southern may be joining oneworld, while Cathay Pacific may be joining Star Alliance. Personally I think it's highly unlikely that Cathay Pacific leaves oneworld and joins Star Alliance, even though Cathay Pacific's second biggest shareholder is Air China, which is in the Star Alliance.…
Continue reading: British Airways & China Southern’s Interesting New Codeshare Agreement
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Another Skyteam member in China, China Eastern also has codeshare agreement with British Airways. More over, China Eastern has codeshare agreement, FFP miles redemption/accumulation, reciprocal elite benefits with Qantas and Japan Airlines. It looks China Eastern is much more close to Oneworld than China Southern, although it would never join Oneworld given Delta's investment in it.
None of the China Southern codeshare flights are out of Guangzhou - it’s two from Beijing and three from Shanghai. BA doesn’t even fly to Guangzhou... written in a hurry?
@Zippy
Why? If it's for connections there are more logical UA hubs to fly to. And there is only one airport that United flies to which it doesn't already from ORD or SFO, so I highly doubt the potential connecting traffic to Fayetteville, NC is the reason to start this route for CX.
If BA avios can redeem china southern, including china southern F class, that would be news. (Though its crazy to use avios to redeem longhaul F)
"Given Skyteam's weakness in the UK"
I'm not sure that's right. A lot of regional pax use KLM flights direct to Schipol, connecting there to longhaul and avoiding both BA and London.
I don't have pax numbers. But BA lists 25 UK airports served (though that includes all the hops between tiny Scottish Islands), whereas KLM lists no fewer than 18. It's an impressive network. I often use it where there's no direct BA flight: KLM serves my regional airport whereas BA does not.
Don't forget, for years before BA finally got into bed with Iberia (and Air France with KLM), we all expected a BA / KLM merger, such were the synergies. Continued gossip about the cultural mis-match between Air France and KLM suggests that it may have been better for KLM to stick with BA.
Also take into account that KLM/AF/DL have started the procedure of taking over operational control in Virgin Atlantic and Virgin already has JV with DL (soon two Delta JVs will merge). It would be logical step for Virgin Atlantic to join SkyTeam along Jet Airways.
FlyingFish:
"its crazy to use avios to redeem longhaul F"
I think it's crazy not to. The best value for any mile redemtpions are usually in the premium cabins.