Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) has entered into a codeshare agreement with China Southern Airlines – Asia's largest airline with a fleet of 700 aircraft flying domestically within the People's Republic of China (PRC) as well as internationally. Saudia is the only airline flying daily non-stop between the Saudi Arabia and the PRC, flying its state-of-the-art Boeing 777 between Jeddah and Guangzhou (CAN) – the hub of China Southern Airlines. Both Saudia and China Southern Airlines are members of the SKYTEAM alliance. The new agreement now enables guests travelling with Saudia to Guangzhou to connect onwards to the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan. Passengers flying with China Southern Airlines will be able to access the Saudia network from Guangzhou and transiting through DXB. Director General of Saudi Arabian Airlines, Engineer Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser said: "With this new partnership, guests flying with Saudia and China Southern Airlines will have additional flexibility and convenience when connecting from long-haul flights to select domestic routes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the People's Republic of China. We look forward to welcoming all of our guests onboard." The new codeshare enables guests traveling for business or leisure, to benefit from a single ticket reservation and onward baggage check-in all the way through to their final destination. In addition, guests traveling on flights operated by Saudia or China Southern Airlines will be eligible to accrue and redeem base miles through each respective airline's frequent flyer programs (regardless of which carrier is operating the flight). Saudia has expanded its route network this year, recently adding two destinations: Multan (Pakistan) and Portsudan (Sudan) on April 1 and April 7. The airline's route network covers 86 destinations across four continents and through its partnership with SKYTEAM, it connects its guests to the entire alliance network of 1062 destinations in 177 countries. In addition to China Southern Airlines, Saudia has codeshare agreements with nine other carriers: Air France, Royal Air Maroc, Alitalia, Korean Airlines, KLM, Middle East Airlines, Aeroflot, Air Europa and Oman Air. — SG
