China's Civil Aviation Authority has approved Delta Air Lines Inc.'s most recent effort to expand its partnerships with two of the country's largest carriers.

The new codeshare agreement with China Southern and China Eastern airlines allows both carriers to market and sell tickets on Delta-operated flights between Seattle and Beijing. China Eastern will have the same arrangement on Detroit-Beijing flights.

Delta and China Eastern already have a codeshare agreement on Delta-run flights between Detroit and Shanghai. Delta can also offer its customers tickets on China Eastern-operated flights from New York and Los Angeles to Shanghai and on China Southern flights between Los Angeles and Guangzhou.

Both Chinese airlines are members of the Skyteam international alliance, of which Delta is a member. Xiamen Airlines, another major carrier in southeastern China, is scheduled to join this year.

Codeshare agreements are marketing pacts allowing airlines to sell tickets on certain routes operated by their partners. They are separate from airline alliances, which allow frequent-flyer mileage credit to earned and used across member airlines. 

Visit www.delta.com for more information. 

2012 The Agio Press, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without expressed permission.