British Airways signs Joint Business Agreement with China Southern

British Airways has announced a new Joint Business Agreement with China Southern.

As we covered a year ago, China Southern has resigned from the SkyTeam airline alliance.  This had been expected ever since American Airlines bought a stake in the carrier – a stake it has already written down by $50m (25%).  It was assumed that China Southern would then apply for full oneworld membership, but for now it appears happy to strike bilateral deals with key oneworld members.

In the short term, little will change.  British Airways has had a codeshare deal with China Southern since 2017.  Stage 1 of the joint venture will see the codeshare extended to cover all direct flights between London and Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Sanya, Wuhan and Zhengzhou. Domestic connections in the UK and China will be added later.

The key differences between the codeshare deal and the new Joint Business Agreement should be, based on precedent:

• the airlines will co-ordinate their schedules where both fly the same route
• the airlines will co-ordinate their schedules in order to match longhaul with connecting shorthaul flights
• the airlines will jointly set pricing on routes between the UK and China
• the airlines will jointly share all revenue on routes between the UK and China, irrespective of which airline carries the passenger
• passengers will be able to mix and match British Airways and China Southern tickets on return trips
• frequent flyer benefits will be fully aligned – this will mean that you will earn an identical number of Avios and tier points if you fly with China Southern or British Airways

I would also expect to see China Southern become a full Avios redemption partner.

The Joint Business Agreement officially starts on 2nd January although it will take some time to ramp up and for all of the features to go live.

You can learn more about the new partnership with China Southern on this page of ba.com.  There is nothing yet on the ‘partner Avios and tier point earning and spending’ page.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)