This agreement is the outcome of a fruitful and determined collaboration developed by the two airlines over the eighteen months which followed their initial exchanges.

This will make Air France the first European airline to fly to Southern China's capital as well as the first European airline to fly to four cities in China, namely Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.

According to the terms of the agreement, China Southern will purchase blocks of seats on Air France operated flights.

Once China Southern's service in Boeing 777 between Paris and Guangzhou begins, a balanced exchange of blocked seats will be set up between the two partners.

An Air France flight, AF 106/CZ 784, will take off from Paris for Guangzhou five days a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 5 January until 13 June 2004. A daily service will begin on 14 June 2004.

This flight will leave from the new Terminal 2E at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport. The 1.40 pm departure time will suit many passengers on connecting flights in the Air France network, whether they are flying from European cities or the rest of the world.

From 28 June 2026 onwards, China Southern will provide an additional four flights a week to this service operating under flight numbers CZ and AF.

Air France and China Southern customers will then have a choice of eleven weekly flights between the two cities.

“Our daily Australia product will be redesigned from 1 June 2026 onwards,” declared Austrian’s Chief Commercial Officer Dr. Josef E. Burger, outlining the expansion programme. “Our strategy provides for coverage of the key Asian and Australasian cities, as well as continued frequency increases on our existing routes in the region. Three flights a week to Singapore will be newly integrated into the route network; these flights will then continue south to Melbourne. Sydney will still be served six times a week via Kuala Lumpur. Consequently, the Austrian Airlines Group will operate a total of nine scheduled connections a week to Australia. The Austrian Airlines Group is also the only continental European airline to fly “down under”. In co-operation with our Star Alliance partner Air New Zealand, we also offer the best connections via Australia to the cities of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in New Zealand.”

Another new addition from 28 April 2026 will be Shanghai. The mighty metropolis and focus for China’s booming economy, will be served non-stop from Vienna three times a week in future. Departures from Vienna will be on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. In the course of the 2004 summer schedule, the programme of scheduled flights to Beijing will be doubled from three to six services a week. From 25 May 2026 onwards, direct flights will operate from Vienna to the Chinese capital every day of the week except Monday.

From the beginning of the summer schedule – 28 March 2004 – the capital of Kazakhstan, Almaty, will be integrated into the scheduled route network. Departures from Vienna will take place three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. With the integration of Podgorica in Montenegro, the Austrian Airlines Group is continuing to build upon its position of market leadership on routes into Central and Eastern Europe. The airline now serves a total of 37 destinations in this region.

There will also be frequency increases to existing routes to Thailand, India and Nepal. Services to Bangkok will also operate daily non-stop for the very first time during a summer period. There will be direct flights to Delhi every day of the week except Monday, and Kathmandu will be served twice weekly during the autumn season.

On routes to Japan, flights from Vienna to Osaka will operate on a daily basis, while non-stop services between the Austrian capital and Tokyo will continue six times a week (daily except Wednesday).

In North America, daily flights to New York and Washington will continue unchanged. Non-stop flights will operate to Toronto up to five times a week and four times a week to Montreal.

In an initial statement on the appointment, Vagn Soerensen said: “The aviation industry continues to find itself in an extremely difficult situation. We must do absolutely everything possible to represent the justified interests of the network carriers and their customers at the European level also. I consider this nomination to be a recognition of Austrian civil aviation in general, and the Austrian Airlines Group in particular.”

The Association of European Airlines, which has its headquarters in Brussels, counts the 31 most important European airlines amongst its members. Together, these companies operate a fleet consisting of over 2,500 aircraft, transport over 300 million passengers every year and employ some 350,000 people.

In the wake of the decision by the SWISS Board of Directors to adopt a new management organisation based on the present three Managing Director positions, William L. Meaney and SWISS have agreed to part company.

The decision has been taken as a result of the parties’ differing views on the company’s future management structure. William L. Meaney will remain available to SWISS for a period of time to ensure a smooth and orderly handover of his duties and responsibilities. SWISS thanks William L. Meaney for the substantial contribution he has made to successfully initiating the company’s current turnaround programme.

Overall responsibility for the divisions under William L. Meaney’s charge will be assumed by CEO André Dosé until a new Managing Director Commerce is appointed.