China Southern Airlines, Air France to set up joint venture

CHINA Southern Airlines Co and Air France-KLM Group plan to set up a joint venture company to operate services from Paris to Guangzhou, according to comments made by the CEO of Air France Pierre-Henri Gourgeon that were reported by France`s Les Echos.
The two carriers plan to copy the cooperation model of Air France and Delta Air Lines Inc on the North Atlantic routes. The venture between Air France and China Southern Airlines may be expanded in future to provide air cargo transportation services as well.
The development comes after China Southern Airlines announced last month that it will buy 20 Airbus A320 aircraft at a catalogue price of US$76.9 million per unit. The aircraft are expected to be delivered between 2011 and 2013.