China Southern Airlines (hereinafter referred to as China Southern) recently signed a memorandum of understanding for strategic cooperation and, subject to regulatory approvals, a codeshare agreement with Finnair in Guangzhou.
Both parties intend to establish a comprehensive, balanced and long-term relationship to improve services to consumers, grow their respective businesses profitably, and improve the competitiveness of the airlines’ offering to their customers. This is the first time that China Southern has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a Nordic airline, which means that China Southern will fill the ‘white space’ in its network in Northern Europe.
The codeshare scheme, which is intended to start in April 22 2019 subject to regulatory approvals, will join the networks of the two airlines so that passengers of both airlines can conveniently transfer to 15 cities in Europe, 8 cities in China and 8 cities in Australia and New Zealand via Helsinki and Guangzhou.
With the convenient and smooth transfer process passengers will be able to enjoy seamless ground services without having to obtain additional boarding passes for connecting flights. More travel options will become available to passengers as their growing travel needs are addressed by resource sharing between the airlines. China Southern and Finnair will continue to search for opportunities to further enhance their cooperation for the benefits of their customers. .
The agreement between China Southern and Finnair is a significant move, according to Mr. Zhang Lin, Assistant President of China Southern Air Holding Company. “We are pleased with our cooperation with Finnair. Helsinki is a metropolis where the classical beauty and modern civilization merge. It’s wonderful that through this agreement passengers of China Southern can visit the beautiful land of Northern Europe. China and Finland are in a constructive process of building a new, future-oriented partnership, and our cooperation, in line with the needs for more frequent communications between the two countries, will further expand the exchange in politics, trade, culture and many other fields between our peoples. Our cooperation is based on market demands and consumers. It is about mutual benefits, openness, and sharing. China Southern sees it as an important milestone in building our new international relations.”
Christian Lesjak, Senior Vice President, Network and Resource Management at Finnair: “We are delighted to be entering into this partnership with China Southern Airlines. The impressive scale of their network, the efficiency of their new hub terminal in Guangzhou and high quality of their service will offer our customers convenient and comfortable onward travel options to key Chinese and Australasian destinations outside of Finnai’s own network. We look forward to developing our cooperation and to delivering new benefits and services to our mutual customers in the future.”
About China Southern Airlines
As China’s largest carrier with over 800 aircraft and more than 100,000 employees around the globe, China Southern ranks 1st in Asia and 3rd in the world with regards to fleet size and maintains the highest safety record in China. China Southern Airlines has formed an extensive network with Guangzhou and Beijing as its hubs, covering all of China, radiating throughout Asia and linking Europe, America, Oceania & Africa, building an international network-oriented airline. China Southern operates more than 3,000 daily flights to 224 destinations in 40 countries and regions. China Southern has been awarded as Skytrax 4 star airline, with continues efforts to provide passengers seamless and attentive travel experience.
About Finnair
Finnair flies between Asia, Europe and North America with an emphasis on fast connections via Helsinki, carrying more than ten million passengers annually and connecting 19 cities in Asia with more than 100 destinations in Europe. The airline, a pioneer in sustainable flying, is the European launch customer of the next-generation, eco-smart Airbus A350 XWB aircraft and is the first airline listed in the Leadership Index of the worldwide Carbon Disclosure Project. The only Nordic carrier with a 4-star Skytrax ranking, Finnair has also won the World Airline Award for Best Airline Northern Europe for the past nine years running. Finnair is a member of oneworld, the alliance of the world's leading airlines committed to providing the highest level of service and convenience to frequent international travellers. Finnair currently flies seven direct routes in Greater China including Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Xi’an, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Hong Kong, where Wi-Fi connection and Alipay onboard payment are available. Finnair has been selected as the Best European Airline at the 11th annual TTG China Travel Awards in 2018 for the third year in a row.