Air Canada has completed formalities for the start of its long-planned joint venture with Air China but denied it was only passed by government officials in China because the airline caved in to demands to list Taiwan as part of China.
The airline changed its listing of Taiwan to reflect the ‘One China’ policy Beijing had demanded just a few weeks ago.
Air Canada chief executive Calin Rovinescu denied the two were related.
"It totally had nothing to do with it at all. We’ve been working on this joint venture since 2014, and one’s got nothing to do with the other," Rovinescu said.
"Our new joint venture will further drive our participation in the Chinese aviation market. It’s a tremendous opportunity, because this market is expected to become the world’s largest by 2022."
When pressed on the issue Rovinescu said he ‘didn’t know’ if the JV would have gone ahead if the airline had not ceded to Beijing’s wishes.
The two carriers recently expanded a codeshare agreement which includes more than 500 daily connecting flights and inbound travel from China to Canada grew 23% last year.
The partnership will be potentially worth ‘billions’ said John MacLeod, Air Canada’s VP of global sales and alliance.
