Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines has announced a new codeshare partnership with Spanish flag carrier Iberia.
Currently, Hainan Airlines flies twice a week between Shenzhen and Madrid, while Iberia operates a thrice-weekly service between Shanghai and Madrid.
With this codeshare partnership, passengers travelling with Iberia will be able to fly non-stop from Madrid to Shenzhen. Iberia customers flying from Madrid to Shanghai will also be able to connect to other Chinese domestic destinations such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Xi’an, Chongqing, Haikou and Shenzhen.
Below is the flight schedule for Hainan Airlines’ Shenzhen-Madrid service:
| Flight No. | From | To | Departs | Arrives | Days |
| HU7984/ IB2500 |
Shenzhen (SZX) | Madrid (MAD) | 0120 | 0820 | Monday, Friday |
| HU7983/ IB2501 |
Madrid (MAD) | Shenzhen (SZX) | 1020 | 0615 (+1) |
The Chinese carrier is using a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner on this route. The two-class aircraft has 36 seats in business class in a 2-2-2 configuration and 177 seats in economy class in a 3-3-3 configuration.
Meanwhile, Hainan Airlines will add its flight code HU on Iberia’s Madrid-Shanghai flights. This will allow its customers to connect with another 20 Iberia destinations in Spain (Barcelona, Valencia, Majorca, Malaga, Seville, Gran Canaria, La Coruna, Bilbao, Vigo, Tenerife, Pamplona, Jerez, Asturias, Santiago, Lanzarote, and Almeria), Italy (Turin, Milan, and Bologna), and Portugal (Porto).
Below is the flight schedule for Iberia’s Shanghai-Madrid service for the 2019 winter schedule from October 27 this year:
| Flight No. | From | To | Departs | Arrives | Days |
| IB6888/ HU8444 |
Shanghai Pudong (PVG) | Madrid (MAD) | 1025 | 1735 | Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday |
| IB6889/ HU8443 |
Madrid (MAD) | Shanghai Pudong (PVG) | 1155 | 0750 (+1) | Monday, Wednesday, Saturday |
The Spanish flag carrier is using an A330-200 aircraft to serve this route. The 288-seater aircraft has 19 business class seats arranged in a staggered 1-2-1 configuration and 269 economy class seats in a 2-4-2 configuration.
Codeshares allow passengers to book an itinerary with different operating airlines under a single booking, travel with a single boarding pass collected at the departure airport and have their checked luggage delivered all the way to their final destinations.
“We’re delighted by this codesharing accord with Hainan Airlines, because this agreement represents a major step forward in extending our coverage of China and our access to the Chinese market. We are certain that this advance in connectivity will contribute to the growth of tourism in both directions, as well as trade,” said Maria Jesus Lopez Solas, Iberia’s customer and network development manager.
Also commenting on the news, Liu Jichun, vice-president of Hainan Airlines, said:
“Hainan Airlines is always looking for opportunities to provide more options to our customers and to improve the end-to-end travel experience. We are thrilled to be working with Iberia to provide travellers with its renowned Iberia service and product all the way between China and Spain.”
Starting later this month, Hainan Airlines will launch two non-stop flights from Beijing to Tokyo Narita and Osaka.
Iberia has recently launched a new “Bag on Board” service, which allows customers to have their luggage collected from their home address and checked in ahead of their arrival at the airport.
