Airline alliances see new trend

The planned withdrawal of China Southern Airlines Co, the largest airline by fleet size in Asia, from the SkyTeam airline alliance signifies less close-knit alliances and more cross-alliance cooperation, analysts said.

China Southern announced on Thursday it would not renew its SkyTeam membership when it expires on Jan 1 next year "based on the needs of the company's development strategy and to better align with the new trend of cooperation in the global aviation industry".

It will "explore the possibilities to establish new partnerships with advanced airlines, promote bilateral and multilateral cooperation and provide quality services to passengers around the world".