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HONG KONG--International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A.'s (IAG.LN) British Airways is in talks with two Chinese state-owned carriers to start codesharing flights between Europe and China, as the U.K. carrier seeks to tap the Chinese travel boom.
Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group, said an absence of a domestic Chinese carrier in the Oneworld alliance has prompted the airline to seek partnerships outside the airline alliance in a bid to strengthen its network between Europe and the world's second-largest economy.
"We've been for some time in discussions with China Eastern and China Southern with the view to codesharing with British Airways and we're optimistic that we'll make progress there," Mr. Walsh said late Thursday, noting he hopes to have some codeshare agreements sealed this year.
"We met informally for a number of years but we've been having more formal discussions over the past couple of months," said Mr. Walsh, referring to British Airways' codesharing talks with China Eastern Airlines Corp. 0670 and China Southern Airlines Co. 1055
Despite a slowdown in Asian economies, British Airways has been stepping up its pace of expansion in the region by adding new destinations in Asia, such as China's Chengdu, and reentering markets including Kuala Lumpur and Seoul in recent years.
However, Mr. Walsh ruled out possible acquisitions for IAG in Asia or in Europe to boost connections between the two regions. "Our strategy within Asia is organic growth," he said, noting that the group may also look at expanding Aer Lingus into Asia amid growing trade activities for Ireland with China and Japan.
Mr. Walsh said British Airways currently has no plans to launch more destinations in China. Apart from twice daily services between Hong Kong and London's Heathrow Airport, British Airways also operates daily services from Heathrow to Beijing, as well as 10 weekly flights to Shanghai and up to five weekly services to Chengdu.
Despite a solid growth plan, IAG, which was set up as a vehicle for British Airways' purchase of Iberia in 2011, has a weaker presence in Asia when compared with rivals Finnair, Air France-KLM (AF.FR) and Deutsche Lufthansa AG DLAKY, -0.19% in terms of available capacity in the region. Asia currently accounts for around 9% of the group's total capacity deployment.
Mr. Walsh, who has repeatedly called on the U.K. government to reform its visa policy on Chinese nationals, said more must be done to facilitate tourism between the two countries even after visa procedures are relaxed.
"What we have to do in the U.K. is to make sure that the U.K. is getting its fair share of those tourists...because it's much easier for Chinese tour groups to travel under a schengen visa into other parts of Europe than it is to travel into the U.K."
Write to Joanne Chiu at [email protected]
HONG KONG--International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A.'s (IAG.LN) British Airways is in talks with two Chinese state-owned carriers to start codesharing flights between Europe and China, as the U.K. carrier seeks to tap the Chinese travel boom.
Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group, said an absence of a domestic Chinese carrier in the Oneworld alliance has prompted the airline to seek partnerships outside the airline alliance in a bid to strengthen its network between Europe and the world's second-largest economy.
"We've been for some time in discussions with China Eastern and China Southern with the view to codesharing with British Airways and we're optimistic that we'll make progress there," Mr. Walsh said late Thursday, noting he hopes to have some codeshare agreements sealed this year.
"We met informally for a number of years but we've been having more formal discussions over the past couple of months," said Mr. Walsh, referring to British Airways' codesharing talks with China Eastern Airlines Corp. 0670 and China Southern Airlines Co. 1055
Despite a slowdown in Asian economies, British Airways has been stepping up its pace of expansion in the region by adding new destinations in Asia, such as China's Chengdu, and reentering markets including Kuala Lumpur and Seoul in recent years.
However, Mr. Walsh ruled out possible acquisitions for IAG in Asia or in Europe to boost connections between the two regions. "Our strategy within Asia is organic growth," he said, noting that the group may also look at expanding Aer Lingus into Asia amid growing trade activities for Ireland with China and Japan.
Mr. Walsh said British Airways currently has no plans to launch more destinations in China. Apart from twice daily services between Hong Kong and London's Heathrow Airport, British Airways also operates daily services from Heathrow to Beijing, as well as 10 weekly flights to Shanghai and up to five weekly services to Chengdu.
Despite a solid growth plan, IAG, which was set up as a vehicle for British Airways' purchase of Iberia in 2011, has a weaker presence in Asia when compared with rivals Finnair, Air France-KLM (AF.FR) and Deutsche Lufthansa AG DLAKY, -0.19% in terms of available capacity in the region. Asia currently accounts for around 9% of the group's total capacity deployment.
Mr. Walsh, who has repeatedly called on the U.K. government to reform its visa policy on Chinese nationals, said more must be done to facilitate tourism between the two countries even after visa procedures are relaxed.
"What we have to do in the U.K. is to make sure that the U.K. is getting its fair share of those tourists...because it's much easier for Chinese tour groups to travel under a schengen visa into other parts of Europe than it is to travel into the U.K."
Write to Joanne Chiu at [email protected]
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