China Southern in talks over tie-up with American AirlinesMarch 27, 2017 - 12:33 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - China Southern Airlines is in talks over a tie-up with American Airlines that could involve the U.S. carrier taking a stake in the state-owned airline, boosting routes between the world's two largest travel markets, Reuters reports. The potential deal would make American Airlines the second U.S. carrier to own part of a Chinese airline after Delta Air Lines Inc bought 3.55 percent of China Eastern Airlines Corp for $450 million in 2015. China Southern, the country's largest carrier by passenger numbers, said in a filing the tie-up could involve a share issue as well as other forms of cooperation, but that it was still subject to shareholder and government approval. The company's Hong Kong-listed shares jumped as much as 5.3 percent in early morning trading on Monday, March 25, while its mainland-listed shares remained suspended. The tie-up comes as Beijing has vowed to shake up its airlines by implementing mixed-ownership reforms and introducing private capital and strategic investment into its state-owned enterprises in a bid to improve efficiency and competitiveness. Chinese airlines have been aggressively expanding their fleet and increasing the number of their international routes as they seek to capitalize on strong growth in outbound Chinese travel that has far outpaced tourism at home. China Southern has flights from its home base of Guangzhou to U.S. cities New York, Boston and Chicago as well as Hawaii. It is also a member of the SkyTeam airline alliance and has code-sharing agreements with Virgin America and Delta. For American Airlines, the deal could widen access to China, one of the biggest sources of tourists to the United States, and will help it compete with rival Delta, which has invested in foreign carriers in Mexico, Brazil and Britain in recent years. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Armenia to participate in key EU meeting for the first time ever National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan has said that Armenia will for the first time participate in the Conference. U.S. reacts to Russia’s criticism of upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting Matthew Miller has weighed in on Russia’s criticism of an upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting. Lavrov sees ‘collapse’ of Russia’s ties with Armenia Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has underscored heightened tensions between Russia and Armenia. Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. |