Air Premia signs first interline deal with China's Tianjin Airlines to expand transit network

Air Premia announced Monday that it has signed an interline agreement with Chinese carrier Tianjin Airlines, linking the two carriers' routes to offer connected travel service.

The partnership allows Air Premia to capture transit demand from passengers traveling through Incheon to China, while Tianjin Airlines will offer connections to major US cities via Incheon using Air Premia's trans-Pacific routes. Air Premia said the deal marks its first interline agreement with a Chinese airline.

The two carriers will provide joint ticketing and baggage connectivity, allowing passengers to book a single itinerary and travel to their final destination across both networks. Interline tickets will be available through travel agencies and online sales channels.

Air Premia currently operates trans-Pacific routes from Incheon to Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Honolulu and Washington, D.C. Tianjin Airlines flies the Tianjin-Incheon route five times a week. The company said it expects the arrangement to enable transit itineraries connecting northeastern China with major US cities, driving growth in China-originating trans-Pacific transfer traffic.

Air Premia is set to launch its first scheduled China route — Incheon to Ningbo — in December, operating three times a week on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The flight departs Incheon at 10 a.m. and arrives in Ningbo at 11:30 a.m., while the return departs Ningbo at 1 p.m. and arrives at Incheon International Airport at 4:35 p.m.

Air Premia is also pursuing expansion to other major Chinese cities, including Shanghai. The airline plans to combine its own route expansion with interline partnerships to broaden transit demand centered on Incheon airport.

"Through our first interline partnership with a Chinese airline, we have significantly expanded the network connecting China and the Americas," an Air Premia official said. "We will continue to grow our China routes and deepen cooperation with various airlines to widen customers' travel options and actively capture transit demand through Incheon airport."

Meanwhile, Air Premia recently increased the economy class seat pitch on its HL8703 aircraft from 31 inches to 33 inches.

As a result, the total seat count on that aircraft fell from 344 to 326, a reduction of 18 seats, or about 5.2 percent. The company said it "gave equal consideration to seat supply and customer comfort, and prioritized expanding the space passengers feel on long-haul flights even at the cost of fewer seats."