Air Canada and Air China have announced a joint venture to "stimulate traffic growth" between their respective countries.
The memorandum of understanding, which was signed in Beijing at the weekend, was announced by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper during an official visit to China.
Subject to regulatory approvals and finalising documentation, the joint venture is expected to begin by the end of 2015.
The Star Alliance members said the agreement will "generate additional service and pricing benefits for consumers travelling between the two countries as well as provide for enhanced cooperation between the two carriers in the areas of sales, marketing and airport operations."
Calin Rovinescu, Air Canada's president and CEO, said: "Air Canada and Air China will benefit from a revenue sharing joint venture, as have our customers through a simplified travel experience and loyalty rewards.
"By deepening our cooperation in the areas of scheduling and sales management, the carriers will be better able to serve customers by offering more travel options.
"The joint venture will provide customers of both carriers additional travel options through the expansion of codeshare flights to additional airports in both carriers' domestic networks as network growth is a core principle of the joint venture."
Song Zhiyong, Air China's president and executive director, added: "We will be able to provide more travel options and benefits for customers travelling between China and Canada while reducing travel times through a more streamlined travel experience.
"Over the past five years the Canada-China air travel market has grown on average by almost 11 per cent annually and this trend is expected to remain strong."
Currently, Air Canada operates up to 28 weekly flights between Canada and China, from Toronto and Vancouver to and from Beijing and Shanghai. Air China operates up to 11 flights per week between Beijing and Vancouver.
Air China places its flight code on Air Canada services between Vancouver and Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, while Air Canada puts its flight code on Air China services between Beijing and Guangzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu, Shenyang, Wuhan and Xi'an.
Last month, Air Canada launched a series of new codeshare routes with Air India (see news, September 24).
Graham Smith
