China Airlines joins SkyTeam

SkyTeam welcomed (28-Sep-2011) China Airlines as its 15th member. The flag carrier of Taiwan becomes the first Taiwanese airline to join SkyTeam, cementing the alliance's position as the largest alliance in the Greater China region. China Airlines' chairman Chia-Juch Chang stated joining the alliance is an "integral part of our strategy for increased international growth and profitability". The carrier has stated it hopes to reduce costs through resource sharing through the alliance and boost revenues through enhanced codeshare operations with alliance members (CNA, 28-Sep-2011). The carrier stated it hopes to reduce operation costs by at least 0.5% or around TWD1 billion (USD32.89 million) in the first year of membership. "The ability to make more flexible flight arrangements might bring us TWD1 billion to TWD2 billion in additional revenue during the same period," China Airlines president Sun Hung-hsiang said. In addition, Mr Sun stated the carrier would will seek for further cooperation with countries such as Japan, Thailand and Vietnam to extend its cargo flight service in these regions to the US and European countries. [more - original PR - Skyteam] [more - original PR - Delta] [more - CAPA Analysis] [more - original PR - Air France]