KEY POINTS:
Air New Zealand will begin codeshare flights with Air China from July 1.
The deal will see Air China codeshare on Air New Zealand's services between Shanghai and Auckland and some trans-Tasman services.
In return, Air NZ will code-share on Air China's international services between China and Australia.
Air NZ's group general manager of international airlines, Ed Sims, said the codeshare would open up both Chinese and New Zealand markets to a wider audience.
He said the Shanghai service positioned Air NZ to take advantage of the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Over the past year visitor arrivals from China have increased by 24 per cent to 116,000 and the number of Kiwis visiting China has increased by 5 per cent to 53,000.
- NZPA
