Air Canada, Air China to conclude partnership talks later this year

Air Canada is confident that joint-venture talks with Air China will be wrapped up this year, laying the groundwork for even closer cooperation between the two airlines, a top executive for the Canadian flag carrier said. “We have been negotiating with them for some time and hopefully we'll conclude the agreement later this year,” Air Canada CFO Michael Rousseau said. The two carriers in December announced the latest expansion of their multi-year collaboration, including codeshare agreements on 10 new flights—five operated by each carrier. The changes, effective in April, boost the total number of codeshare flights in their partnership to about 30, including some of the 45 weekly flights the carriers operate between their countries. Air Canada president and CEO Calin Rovinescu has credited the Air China cooperation’s evolution for helping drive low-double-digit annual passenger traffic growth between China and Canada in the last six years. Rousseau said that Air Canada’s vision for the JV is to create a transpacific version of its A++ alliance with Germany’s Lufthansa Group and United Airlines. “Certainly, we believe the A++ alliance across the Atlantic between us and United and Lufthansa has been successful,” he said. “We want to replicate that with Air China across to Asia.”<br/>