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Shanghai Airlines quits Star Alliance
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Sim Kok Chwee, Singapore (2010-07-30)
SHANGHAI Airlines will leave Star Alliance by end of October 2010 in a move that was highly anticipated after it merged earlier this year with China Eastern Airlines.
Shanghai Airlines joined Star Alliance in December 2007 at the same time that Air China did. Following its latest move, Shanghai Airlines is now expected to join Skyteam together with China Eastern Airlines.
The void it leaves is now expected to be filled by another airline in the Air China group - likely to be Shenzhen Airlines, which gives its parent company a growing foothold in the Pearl River Delta region.
Meanwhile, China Eastern Airlines has reached an agreement with the Yunnan province government to establish a new airline based in Kunming. China Eastern's 65 per cent stake in the as yet unnamed carrier amounts to RMB2.38 billion (US$35m) and its board secretary Luo Zhuping said the new airline would allow China Eastern to grow its share in the Yunnan market, which currently stands at 50 per cent.
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