China Eastern to join Delta's SkyTeam alliance

China Eastern Airlines announced it will join Delta Air Lines’ SkyTeam alliance, adding 25 new destinations to the airline alliance’s network.

At a ceremony in Shanghai on Friday, SkyTeam airlines’ CEOs signed a memorandum of understanding on China Eastern’s plan to join SkyTeam by mid-2011.

China Eastern and SkyTeam plan to sign an alliance agreement this June, the same month TAROM of Romania and Vietnam Airlines are scheduled to join SkyTeam.

SkyTeam already has China Southern as a member airline, but Delta CEO Richard Anderson told employees in a recorded message that the addition of China Eastern will be a “major advancement in our coverage of China.”