Air China and Shanghai Airlines Co. will start to share codes on each other's domestic flights out of Beijing and Shanghai in June, the Shanghai Morning Post reported.

The new so-called code-sharing and joint ticket booking arrangement, will let passengers buy Air China tickets from Shanghai Airlines distributors, and vice-versa, on 21 routes, the newspaper said, citing an agreement between the carriers.

The arrangement allows passengers to transfer smoothly between the two carriers on a single ticket, the newspaper said.

China's airlines are forming new alliances after a government- mandated merger between 10 of the country's major carriers. Air China is to head one merged group of carriers now under the Civil Aviation Administration of China, while Shanghai Air is to be part of a rival teaming calling itself China Sky Aviation Enterprises Group.

(Eastday.com.cn 05/16/2001)