China Airlines has officially joined Skyteam at a ceremony in Taipei, becoming the 15th airline within the alliance.
The carrier - which commenced direct flights between London and Taipei last year (see online news January 11, 2010) in competition with privately-owned Eva Air (which flies via Bangkok) – also becomes the fifth Asian airline within Skyteam, joining founder member Korean Air, Chinese carriers China Eastern and China Southern, and Vietnam Airlines.
As part of the inauguration celebrations China Airlines also unveiled the first B747-400 to fly in the Skyteam livery.
China Airlines operates a total of 224 daily departures to 80 destinations, and will add three new cities to the Skyteam network - Okinawa and Miyazaki in Japan, and Surabaya in Indonesia.
For more information visit skyteam.com.
Report by Mark Caswell
