China Eastern Airlines has expressed interest in joining the Oneworld alliance and American Airlines, as its codeshare strategic partner, welcomes it to join, Theo Panagiotoulias, American's managing director, Pacific, said in Shanghai yesterday.

 

As a founding member of Oneworld, American said China Eastern has to meet certain criteria before being a member. American said it's committed to strengthening ties with China Eastern in further expanding its network in China. American's Shanghai-Chicago service, which started in April last year, has seen load factors average more than 80 percent, beating its transpacific average in peak seasons, said Panagiotoulias.

 

(Shanghai Daily April 4, 2007)