China Eastern Enters Cooperation With China Southern

China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines have signed an agreement in which the two airline companies will cooperate in ten areas, including route sharing, plane purchasing and ground service.

The cooperation nearly covers all fields of the airline industry except stock ownership.

Liu Shaoyong, president of CSA, says it took more than one year before the two sides finally reached a cooperative agreement. He says the airline networks of CSA and CEA are complementary to each other, so if the two companies can cooperate, both of their airline networks can be extended and it is more convenient for customers. Besides China Eastern, China Southern Airlines also wants to cooperate with Air China, Shanghai Airlines and other airline companies.

Li Fenghua, president of CEA, said at a press conference the cooperation will reduce management costs and offer lower-priced tickets to customers. He says proper cooperation will not harm the interest of other airline companies.