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China Eastern accepts maiden A350-900 and expands JV with Air France-KLM
November 30th 2018
China Eastern Airlines on Wednesday accepted the airline’s maiden A350-900 at a ceremony in Toulouse. Read More »
Officially, China Eastern has ordered 20 A350s, although it is understood that the Shanghai-based carrier will receive additional XWBs over the next five years.
China Eastern’s A350s feature a first class cabin, making it only the second carrier after Malaysia Airlines to install that cabin on an A350.
Separately, China Eastern has expanded its joint venture (JV) with SkyTeam fellow, Air France-KLM, to include two new Sino-Europe routes.
From January 1, the partners will add flights from Kunming and Wuhan to Paris to their JV, respectively, in addition to several new codeshare options.
China Eastern and Air France formed a Sino-Europe JV in 2012, which KLM joined in 2016. The Mainland carrier acquired an 8.8% shareholding in Air France-KLM last October, including a seat on its board.
“Our strong and long-term strategic partnership with China Eastern offers our customers even more extensive and harmonized benefits across all airlines. China is an essential market for the Air France-KLM Group, with strong growth, and we must be able to offer our customers the best possible travel experience," said Air France-KLM CEO, Benjamin Smith.
Extending existing partnerships and signing new ones to improve the reach of its long-haul network has been a key part of Air France-KLM's efforts to boost profitability in the face of mounting competition. Most recently, the airline consortium signed a codeshare partnership with Australia's Qantas Airways, a member of the rivalling oneworld alliance.
