Cathay Pacific expands codeshare with British Airways

Cathay Pacific Airways and its oneworld alliance partner British Airways today announced they have expanded their code-sharing agreement to cover flights to Copenhagen, Lisbon and Seoul. Tickets went on sale today. The new Code-Shares reflect oneworld's objective of extending co-operation between its member airlines.

From 4 March 2003, Cathay Pacific's "CX" code will be placed on selected British Airways' European flights operating between London Heathrow and both Copenhagen and Lisbon. The Code-Share will provide smoother European connections for passengers travelling on Cathay Pacific's flights between London and Hong Kong. In June that London-Hong Kong route will also become triple daily every day of the week.

At the same time the "BA" code will also be added to a daily Cathay Pacific flight between Hong Kong and Seoul offering British Airways passengers the same benefits on their connections to Asia Pacific.

Tony Tyler, Cathay Pacific's Director Corporate Development said: "We are extremely pleased to expand the Code-Share with our oneworld partner British Airways as this agreement brings benefits for all of our passengers. As oneworld members we both focus on a high quality of service and a premium product."

Michael Jackson, British Airways' Head of Alliances and Franchises said: "We are delighted to announce this new code-sharing agreement with our oneworld partner. It reflects how the two airlines are constantly striving to find new opportunities to work together in the interests of all our customers."

Code-sharing between the two carriers first began in March 2000. Cathay Pacific already offers its CX code on British Airways flights between London and Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Aberdeen, Manchester, Stockholm, Helsinki, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Berlin, Cologne, Stuttgart and Prague. The new destinations bring the number of European Code-Share routes to sixteen. British Airways already offered its BA code on Cathay Pacific flights between Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur and Auckland, bringing its total of Asian Code-Share routes with Cathay Pacific to three.

Cathay Pacific Airways and British Airways are both members of oneworld, the leading global airline alliance, together with Aer Lingus, American Airlines, Finnair, Iberia, LanChile and Qantas. As part of a range of oneworld benefits passengers on both oneworld carriers can already earn and redeem frequent flyer rewards across each other's networks, and gain access to more partner airline lounges.