Jetstar in new agreement with American

American plans to codeshare with Jetstar in New Zealand. (AA)

American Airlines (AA) has signed an agreement to interline passengers on Jetstar’s domestic New Zealand services ahead of a likely codeshare agreement between the two airlines.

The agreement was announced at a joint ceremony in Auckland, and will initially allow American passengers to be booked on Jetstar services with their American tickets. Subject to regulatory approval the deal will see American place its code on Jetstar services between Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Queenstown.

“Our proposed codeshare agreement with American Airlines will enable its customers to combine travel on Jetstar, American Airlines and other codeshare carriers such as Qantas as part of a single booking,” Jetstar group CEO Bruce Buchanan said.

The new agreement with American will take to 15 the number of interline partners that Jetstar has, and will also take to three the number of codeshare partners it operates with. American is also the first US based carrier to strike a commercial relationship with Jetstar.