Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines and Finnair have firmed up the details of their previously proposed reciprocal codeshare agreement, which will see the two carriers’ codes placed on Finnair’s service between Helsinki and Guangzhou as well as routes operated by both airlines to select destinations in Europe and China starting June 1.

The new codeshare partnership will expand China Southern’s network in northern Europe. Along with Finnair’s Helsinki Guangzhou route China Southern’s CZ code will be added to Finnair’s flights between Helsinki and eight cities in Europe, including Amsterdam (AMS), Billund (BLL), Copenhagen (CPH), Goteborg (GOT), London (LHR), Paris (CDG), Riga (RIX) and Stockholm (ARN).

Meanwhile, passengers from Europe will be able to connect to eight cities in China from Guangzhou with China Southern, namely Changsha (CSX), Chongqing (CKG), Hangzhou (HGH), Nanjing (NKG), Sanya (SYX), Wenzhou (WNZ), Xiamen (XMN) and Xi’an (XIY).

It’s worth noting that China Southern also operates its own flights to London and Paris, while Finnair flies its own metal to Chongqing, Nanjing and Xi’an as well. However, these routes don’t appear to be included in the two airlines’ codeshare agreement at this stage.

Also absent from the agreement are routes to Australasia, which were originally touted as being included in the codeshare tie-up when the two airlines signed a memorandum of understanding in December last year. The previous plan comprised connections to eight cities in Australasia including Sydney and Auckland along with an earlier launch date of April 22.

Commenting on the new codeshare partnership, Christian Lesjak, senior vice president of network and resource management at Finnair, said, “This codeshare opens up new destinations in China for our customers on the Helsinki-Guangzhou route, which we just extended to year-round operations.

“During this summer, we operate up to 42 weekly flights between Greater China and Helsinki, including four flights to Guangzhou.”

The new codeshare flights became available to book on Tuesday, May 21.

However, China Southern and Finnair won’t offer reciprocal loyalty benefits, such as earning and redeeming miles, or offering lounge access on these codeshare routes, a spokesperson for Finnair confirmed to Business Traveller Asia-Pacific.

Codesharing allows passengers to book flights with different carriers under a single booking, but also provides a seamless transfer experience without the need to collect luggage and new boarding passes at their stopover destinations.