Codeshare flights between the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines(VNA) and the low-cost carrier Jetstar Pacic (JPA) will becomeoperational from May 21, it was announced on May 19.

Domesticcodeshare flights will be operated in the first phase of theircooperation, which will be followed by an international codeshare in thefuture.

Codeshare is a practice in which a flight operated byone airline is jointly marketed as a flight by one or more otherairlines. Customers can purchase a seat through each airline but theflight is actually operated by only one of the cooperating airlines -called the operating carrier.

Customers with VNA tickets will be able to board JPA flights while still receiving VNA’s free baggage allowance and food.

Inaddition, special treatment on luggage and waiting rooms will beoffered to members of the Golden Lotus programme. Meanwhile, titan-ratedmembers will receive support at exclusive check-in counters at Noi BaiInternational Airport, Tan Son Nhat International Airport and Da NangInternational Airport.

Trinh Ngoc Thanh, VNA Vice GeneralDirector in charge of Commercial Affairs, said that the collaborationwith JPA is part of the strategy to develop the VNA-JPA trademark, whichincludes a plan to diversify products, services and flight schedules tomeet growing demands.

He stressed that the move will bring moreopportunities for passengers to travel with lower costs and benefit fromvarious preferential services offered by the carrier.

For hispart, Le Hong Ha, JPA Chief Executive Officer, said that the codesharewill promote domestic tourism growth, adding that VNA customers areeligible to access other destinations reached by JPA as well as theJetstar Group network in the Asian-Pacific region.-VNA