CATHAY PACIFIC & QATAR AIRWAYS
ROUTES From Hong Kong to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Cairns, Adelaide, Auckland, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Seoul
From Doha to Jeddah, Nairobi, Athens, Geneva, Madrid, Barcelona and Venice
START DATE April 2014
WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU
In addition to all the pre-existing reciprocal loyalty benefits between these two Oneworld members, gold-tier members will get an extra 15kg of checked baggage allowance, while silver-tier members will enjoy an extra 10kg. This is on top of the free checked-baggage allowance of 40/35/30kg for business, premium economy and economy class members respectively.
SIGNIFICANCE Qatar now offers one-stop options from Hong Kong to Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns and Adelaide – destinations that the Gulf carrier does not fly direct to. This complements the existing partnerships it has with Australian carriers Qantas and Virgin Australia. Likewise, the agreement allows Cathay to offer single-stop services to Nairobi, Geneva, Madrid, Barcelona and Venice via Doha.
cathaypacific.com and qatarairways.com
DELTA AIR LINES AND GARUDA INDONESIA
ROUTES From Tokyo-Haneda to Los Angeles
START DATE July 2014
WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU Garuda also codeshares with China Airlines to serve Los Angeles through Taipei Taoyuan. However, the partnership with Delta enables it to offer more flight choices into the US, via Tokyo Haneda. In addition, the new connecting services between the two carriers have been timed to facilitate connectivity.
The choice of flying through Tokyo rather than Taipei could be an attractive factor as it is well served by Skyteam member airlines. In addition, premium passengers would be afforded access to the JAL's newly refurbished Sakura Lounge (see here) as well as the Tiat Lounge. (Although JAL is oneworld, it has a separate partnership with Delta). The latter is opened 24-hours a day – something that none of the lounges in Taipei offer.
SIGNIFICANCE As Delta operates the Tokyo-Los Angeles route with a Boeing 767-300ER, which offers 35 seats in business elite, 32 in economy comfort and 153 in economy class, Garuda is deploying an Airbus A330-200 on the Jakarta–Tokyo route to better match capacity. The aircraft will feature a similar 36 seats in business class and 186 in economy. Furthermore, the two carriers will be looking to expand their partnership towards flights to Seattle.
delta.com and garuda-indonesia.com
JAL WITH JETSTAR, CATHAY PACIFIC AND MALAYSIA AIRLINES
ROUTES From Tokyo-Narita to Melbourne (JQ)
From Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur: Perth (CX and MAS) and Darwin (MAS)
START DATE May 2014
WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU The new Oceanic codeshare flights mean that JAL now serves a total of 11 routes to Australia – up from the previous seven. In particular, JAL customers can now have the flexibility of another one-stop option to Darwin – a destination that the carrier does not serve direct, but in partnership with Qantas via Sydney.
SIGNIFICANCE The Japanese carrier has been looking to widen its exposure in Australia and New Zealand. It had previously already increased its services into the Oceanic region, by expanding its codeshare partnership with Qantas on flights between Sydney and Auckland, New Zealand.
jal.com, jetstar.com, cathaypacific.com and malaysiaairlines.com
JET AIRWAYS & ALITALIA
ROUTES From Abu Dhabi to Rome, Bologna, Florence, Naples, Turin, Venice and Verona, Delhi, Mumbai and Kochi
From Mumbai and Delhi to Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Udaipur
START DATE July 2014
WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU Jet Privilege and MilleMiglia members flying on the codeshare services will be able to earn status miles. In addition, they can also use their points to redeem codeshare flights from both carriers.
SIGNIFICANCE Etihad Airways has just purchased a 49 per cent stake in Alitalia, and it also has 24 per cent of Jet Airways. That may have been resulted in this codeshare agreement. As many of the codeshare services hub in Abu Dhabi, the three carriers will be able to leverage passenger traffic from one another, thereby mutually benefiting all parties.
Clement Huang
