It now appears that the well known Australian carrier Qantas and China Eastern have just recently announced their plans to expand their codeshare relationship. This expansion will now include services between Australia and China via Singapore.

The carrier, which has existing codeshares on China Eastern’s domestic flights, said that it would codeshare on three daily China Eastern services between Singapore and Shanghai starting July 1^st. The agreement also allows China Eastern to codeshare on Qantas services between Singapore and Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide.

Rob Gurney, the Qantas Group Executive, said that the expanded codeshare agreement showed the airline’s commitment to the Chinese market. He said that China is an important market for Qantas and for Australia in general. Qantas is playing its part in developing the already strong business and tourism ties between the two countries.

Mr Gurney went on to say that this continued strengthening of the relationship between the two carriers is good news for Australia and China trade, investment and tourism. The new service complements Qantas’s daily direct flights between Sydney and Shanghai and its existing codeshare agreement with China Eastern on its domestic network.

As more and more airlines look to find ways to deal with the struggling travel industry, experts expect to see more deals like this being made. Some airlines, like Qantas and China Eastern, will simply expand existing deals. However, other airlines will be forced to make new codeshare agreements. Either way, these moves by airlines can only stand to benefit passengers. Right now it’s a passenger market as airlines fight over the few people traveling. Although the figures are improving, passenger numbers are not as high as what airlines would like to see.