JAL’s China Network increases with Expansion of Code Sharing with China Eastern Airlines

Japan Airlines and partner China Eastern Airlines are to increase code sharing operations between Japan and China from July 1st 2005. The current operation will expand to 10 routes and 95 flights per week. Now JAL and China Eastern Airlines (MU) operate 8 routes and 76 flights per week.

At present, JAL serves 13 cities in China on 29 routes with a total of 235 flights per week including code shares. From July 1st, 2005 the network will increase to 30 routes and 247 flights a week.

From July 1st the two airlines will launch code share flights on two new routes: a daily service between Narita and Dalian operated by Japan Airlines, and a twice-weekly flight between Komatsu and Shanghai operated by China Eastern Airlines. Sales of these new code share flights will start on June 10th .The number of flights will also increase on three existing code share routes: the Sapporo - Shanghai route will increase from two flights per week to three; the Nagoya - Shanghai route from seven flights per week to 14; and the Narita - Qingdao from five flights per week to seven.

JAL and China Eastern have been code share partners since September 2002. Currently, the arrangement includes code share flights between Shanghai and Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Sapporo; flights between Osaka and Qingdao; and Osaka and Kunming. JAL and China Eastern also operate three weekly cargo freighter code share flights between Tokyo and Shanghai.

Additionally, under the name JAL China Express, JAL currently offers daily flight connection services from Beijing to nine destinations within Japan: Chengdu, Chongqing, Xian in cooperation with Hainan Airlines (HU); and Changchun, Harbin, Shenyang, Urumuqi, Wuhan, Zhengzhou in cooperation with China Southern Airlines (CZ). As already announced earlier this year, the connection service between Beijing – Chengdu operated by Hainan Airlines from June 15, 2005 will become JAL’s first ever domestic China code share flight. Tickets for this new code share go on sale from today, June 1st.

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