China Southern Airlines will place its code on Qatar Airways flights between Guangzhou and Doha. (Photo: Qatar Airways)

This codeshare agreement is the first step in the strengthening of cooperation between both airlines, since Qatar Airways acquired 5 per cent of China Southern Airlines in December 2018. The codeshare flights will enable China Southern Airlines’ passengers to book travel on Qatar Airways’ flights between Guangzhou and Doha and onwards to more than 60 destinations in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. The next stage of the codeshare agreement will see the Chinese carrier also place its code on Qatar Airways flights between Beijing and Doha, once the current restrictions for flights in and out of China are lifted.

Qatar Airways strategic investment in a variety of fuel-efficient twin-engine aircraft, including the largest fleet of Airbus A350 aircraft, has enabled it to continue flying throughout this crisis and perfectly positions it to lead the sustainable recovery of international travel. The airline recently took delivery of three new state-of-the-art Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, increasing its total A350 fleet to 52 with an average age of just 2.6 years.

Due to COVID-19’s impact on travel demand, the airline has grounded its fleet of Airbus A380s as it is not environmentally justifiable to operate such a large four-engine aircraft in the current market. Qatar Airways has also recently launched a new program that enables passengers to voluntarily offset the carbon emissions associated with their journey at the point of booking.

The national carrier of the State of Qatar continues to rebuild its network, which currently stands at over 100 destinations and plans to increase to 129 by the end of March 2021.

Cre: worldairlinenews

Nguyen Xuan Nghia – COMM