China Southern Airlines (CZ, Guangzhou) is in talks with British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) over a possible joint-venture agreement, Senior Vice-President Luo Laijin has told Bloomberg.
Speaking in an interview last week, Luo said the negotiations were looking at extending their cooperation beyond a basic code-share agreement, announced in December last year, to include special pro-rate agreements, flight connections from London to cities including Manchester International, Edinburgh, and Glasgow International, as well as to some African cities.
According to the SVP, the Skyteam member is also looking to extend partnerships with carriers outside of the three global airline alliances, including its partnership with Air France-KLM, which currently includes a joint venture.
It is also considering further equity partnership deals with both US and European airlines akin to that signed with American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) last year, he said.
