Airline News
Delta buys into China Eastern
September 7th 2015
China Eastern last Tuesday finalized the details of its partnership with Delta Air Lines after the U.S. carrier purchased a $450 million, 3.55% stake in China Eastern in early August. “You’ll be able to fly from any city that China Eastern serves in China to any city Delta serves in the U.S.,” Delta chief Richard Anderson said at the signing ceremony in Shanghai. Read More » “In essence, we’ll run a single airline, even though there are two airlines involved.”
Given Delta’s long-term confidence in the Chinese market, the decision to invest in China Eastern was “easy, quick,” said Anderson. “This is going to be the first real alliance, the first really deep trans-Pacific alliance.” The Delta chief reiterated his vision of creating another Asian hub in Shanghai to build on the carrier’s growing relationship with China Eastern.
“When you think about how big Asia is, more than one hub can certainly be supported commercially,” he said. “Our real focus now for growth is Shanghai because China has really surpassed Japan as the growth engine of Asia.”
China Eastern and Delta will cooperate in areas including code sharing, revenue management, scheduling, sales, frequent-flyer programs, joint investments and staff exchanges, the carriers said.
China Eastern vice-president, Tang Bing, said the “mutually beneficial” agreement offers the Chinese carrier a chance to grow its global business, while learning from a world-class airline. Delta will have an observer seat on China Eastern’s board.
