CATHAY PACIFIC EXPANDS CODE-SHARE WITH BRITISH AIRWAYS

Cathay Pacific Airways and its oneworld alliance partner British Airways are expanding their code-sharing agreement to cover flights to both Kuala Lumpur and Auckland as well as eleven destinations in Europe.

From 7 January 2002, Cathay Pacific's "CX" code will be placed on British Airways' European flights linking London Heathrow with Newcastle, Aberdeen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Berlin, Cologne, Stuttgart and Prague. The code-share will provide smoother European connections for Cathay Pacific passengers arriving on the airline's two daily flights from Hong Kong.

At the same time the "BA" code will also be added to daily Cathay Pacific flights between Hong Kong and both Kuala Lumpur and Auckland offering British Airways passengers the same benefits on their connections to Asia Pacific destinations.

The code-share is an important step for British Airways allowing the carrier to return Kuala Lumpur to its timetable having suspended direct flights from London earlier this year due to mounting losses on the route.

Chitty Cheung, Cathay Pacific's General Manager Alliance said: "Today's code-share is good news for passengers in both Europe and Asia. In addition to new destinations passengers will find connections much more convenient now thanks to oneworld."

Michael Jackson, British Airways' Head of Alliances and Franchises said: "We are delighted to announce this new code-sharing agreement with our oneworld partner. It reflects how the two airlines are constantly striving to find new opportunities to work together in the interests of all our customers."

The new code-sharing arrangements are open for sale as from today. Code-sharing between the two carriers first began in March 2000. Cathay Pacific already offered its CX code on British Airways flights between London and Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Manchester. The new destinations bring the number of code-share routes to 14.

Cathay Pacific Airways and British Airways are both members of oneworld, the leading global airline alliance, together with Aer Lingus, American Airlines, Finnair, Iberia, LanChile and Qantas. As part of a range of oneworld benefits passengers on both oneworld carriers can already earn and redeem frequent flyer rewards across each other's networks, and gain access to more partner airline lounges.