China Southern and American Airlines are significantly expanding the number of routes on which they codeshare, increasing connectivity options for travellers and giving both carriers notably greater access to the Chinese and US markets.

The agreement builds upon the two airlines’ existing codeshare partnership, which took off in January after American Airlines purchased more than 270 million shares in the Chinese airline last year, and follows the announcement earlier this month that China Southern would be quitting its airline alliance Skyteam. American Airlines is a member of rival alliance Oneworld.

“We are very pleased with the progress we have made so far in our newly formed relationship with the largest airline in Asia,” said Robert Isom, president of American Airlines.

“We look forward to building on our successes with a significant expansion of our codeshare cooperation and the addition of reciprocal frequent flyer benefits and lounge access. With the opening of Beijing Daxing International Airport in 2019, and the ability to cooperate fully with China Southern, we are incredibly excited about American’s future in the Chinese market.”

Codesharing allows travellers to book multiple legs of a trip in a single reservation, along with being able to check-in luggage from their first point of origin to their final destination. This also eliminates the need to go to a transfer desk in order to procure a boarding pass for connecting flights.

Members of American Airlines’ AAdvantage or China Southern’s Sky Pearl Club frequent flyer programmes will also able to earn and redeem miles on flights operated by the other carrier starting early next year. Reciprocal lounge access will also be rolled out early in 2019.

While many of the routes that will be joining the two airlines’ codesharing partnership are domestic services, there are a few long-haul flights that will also see the beginning of codesharing.

For China Southern, this includes placing its CZ code on American Airlines’ flights from both Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and Los Angeles (LAX) to Beijing (PEK) and Shanghai (PEK).

American Airlines, meanwhile, will place its code on China Southern’s flights from Los Angeles to Guangzhou (CAN) and Shenyang (SHE) – the latter launching next month – along with flights between San Francisco and Guangzhou and Wuhan (WUH), as well as New York (JFK) and Guangzhou.

On the domestic side, China Southern will place its CZ code on the following American Airlines flights:

From Los Angeles (LAX)

  • Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
  • Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
  • Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
  • Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
  • Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu (HNL)
  • McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas (LAS)
  • San Jose International Airport (SJC)
  • Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
  • Orlando International Airport (MCO)
  • Portland International Airport (PDX)
  • Denver International Airport (DEN)
  • Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
  • Tucson International Airport (TUS)

From San Francisco (SFO)

  • Los Angeles (LAX)
  • New York (JFK)
  • Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
  • Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
  • Miami International Airport (MIA)
  • Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT)

From New York (JFK)

  • Los Angeles (LAX)
  • Boston (BOS)
  • Orlando (MCO)
  • Miami (MIA)
  • Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)
  • Raleigh/Durham International Airport (RDU)
  • San Diego International Airport (SAN)
  • Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix (PHX)

American Airlines, meanwhile, will place its AA code on the following China Southern domestic services

From Beijing (PEK)

  • Urumqi Diwopu International Airport (URC)
  • Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport (KWE)
  • Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL)
  • Haikou Meilan International Airport (HAK)
  • Sanya Phoenix International Airport (SYX)

From Shanghai (PVG)

  • Sanya (SYX)
  • Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN)
  • Shenyang Taoxian International Airport (SHE)
  • Changsha Huanghua International Airport (CSX)
  • Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport (SZX)
  • Dalian Zhoushuizi International Airport (DLC)
  • Harbin Taiping International Airport (HRB)
  • Changchun Longjia International Airport (CGQ)
  • Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport (CGO)

Codeshare flights are expected to go on sale “in due course” with the first day of travel due to be in early 2019.