Air New Zealand has announced it will commence reciprocal codeshare flights with Air China effective from July 1, 2007.

The agreement will see Air China codeshare on Air New Zealand's services between Shanghai and Auckland and selected Trans-tasman services. In return Air New Zealand will code-share on Air China's International services between China and Australia.

"Air New Zealand is delighted to have reached agreement with our new partner and the code share will open up both the Chinese and New Zealand markets to a greater audience. We are also pleased to acknowledge that Air China will join Star Alliance in December 2007," says Group General Manager International Airline, Ed Sims.

Over the past year visitor arrivals from China have increased by 24% to 116,000 while the number of Kiwis visiting China has also increased by 5% to 53,000. Air New Zealand currently operates three times weekly services to Shanghai increasing to five times weekly from 29 October 2007.