British Airways today announced that it has signed a joint business agreement with China Southern. The move follows the British flag carrier's move to Beijing's new Daxing Airport to "develop its network" with the Chinese airline.

British Airways initially launched a codeshare agreement with China Southern in 2017. This initial agreement covered 10 routes. Since then, earlier this year the two airlines signed a memorandum of understanding to expand this agreement. Today the British Flag carrier announced the culmination of the memorandum of understanding. The move with come as a boon to frequent flyers between the two nations.

What does the agreement mean?

The new agreement announced by British Airways today will take effect from the 2nd of January 2020. In other words, in 16 days time. It will see the two airlines working much closer together with regards to their schedules. This will additionally be accompanied by the airlines tieing their frequent flier programs.

For starters, British Airways customers will have more opportunities to collect frequent flyer points with China Southern and vice versa. This will be accompanied by an enhancement of mutual benefits between the two airlines.

British Airways, China Southern, Joint Business Agreement
The agreement will go live on the 2nd of January 2020. Photo: British Airways

Initially, the two airlines will codeshare on direct routes operated by either airline between London and the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Sanya, Wuhan and Zhengzhou. However, over time the codesharing offering will be gradually expanded. The airline states that this will grow to include domestic destinations within both China and the United Kingdom. This could be a huge bonus to both airlines, as it will allow it to serve a much greater pool of passengers.

Beijing Daxing colocation

Earlier this year British Airways became the first international airline to move from Beijing's Capital Airport to the new Daxing Airport. When the move was announced, the British Airline stated that this was to "strengthen and develop its network through its codeshare agreement with China Southern Airlines".

With the announcement of the new joint business agreement, Beijing could, in the future, become a hub of UK to China travel. Passengers could fly with British Airways to Beijing, before connecting to a China Southern flight to their destination. Of course, other cities within China are also included in the deal besides Beijing.

British Airways, China Southern, Joint Business Agreement
The agreement will initially focus on UK-China codeshares. Photo: British Airways

Speaking of the new agreement, British Airways CEO Alex Cruz commented:

“We are delighted to announce this joint business which will bring the UK and China closer together by providing British Airways and China Southern Airlines customers with a wide range of benefits. The agreement reinforces our commitment to boost tourism and business travel between the two countries and we look forward to strengthening the relationship further.”

Will you find the new joint business agreement beneficial? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!