American Northwest Airlines and Air China recently declared in Shanghai that they will enhance cooperation in the areas of code sharing, preferential treatment for regular passengers, and renovation of passenger compartments.

According to the agreement they have reached, Northwest Airlines will code share with seven home flights of Air China's from December 18 this year. In addition, its code will appear on Air China's flights between Beijing and other eight cities.

In return, Air China will be able to expand its services to 9 American airports and 10 other American cities that it code shares with.

The two airlines are also offering a new preferential treatment plan in which they will mutually acknowledge the accumulated mileage of their regular passengers, and accept each other's free tickets.

Furthermore, the two sides will cooperate to enlarge passenger compartments, to improve food quality and diversity, and to better ground and transfer services.

Northwest Airlines is the fourth largest airline company in the world, and Air China is the largest airline in China. Through cooperation, they are bound to be more competent in the future.

(People’s Daily 12/08/2000)