Air China, the official flag carrier of the People's Republic of China and official airline partner of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, has launched a major European & North American seat sale as it aims to increase its market share from Australia over the high season.

The carrier is offering return economy class fares from Sydney and Melbourne to its ten online European destinations of Athens, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Munich, Paris, Rome and Stockholm from AU$1200 net plus tax.

In addition to their ten online destinations the carrier also offers a further 30 intra European points via either Frankfurt or Munich with Star Alliance partner Lufthansa. Fares to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Birmingham, Brussels, Budapest, Cologne, Copenhagen, Dresden, Dublin, Dusseldorf, Gothenburg, Graz, Geneva, Hanover, Hamburg, Leipzig, Linz, Manchester, Nice, Nuremberg, Oslo, Prague, Sofia, Stuttgart, Turin, Vienna, Warsaw, Zagreb and Zurich start from AU$1400 net plus tax.

Air China's four online North American destinations of Vancouver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York are also available from AU$1200 net plus tax with a free stopover included in Beijing. Like the carriers European fares a further 40 American domestic points are offered via either Los Angeles or San Francisco with Star Alliance partner United Airlines from AU$1400 net plus tax.

Air China's General Manager Australia & New Zealand, Ms. Ma Ling, stated that with more than 75 flights a week from China to Europe capacity was not an issue and agents should have no problem securing seats. "We fly three times daily to Frankfurt and double daily to Paris while all our North American routes are daily 747-400 services." Ma Ling also announced that Air China will offer a 30kg economy class baggage allowance on the special fares.

The carrier also launched a Companion business class special for AU$4000 net plus taxes to its online European network. "Our European flights all feature angled lie-flat sleeper seats in business class so this price represents excellent value for money." said Ma Ling.

All special fares are now on sale for departures through to August 24, 2008.

Air China continues to operate all its Australian services with new Airbus A330-200s, which feature a two class cabin containing 34 business and 206 economy class seats.

Business class offers electronic controlled angled lie flat sleeper seats with 60 inches of pitch, width of 55cm, and when fully extended, a length of over 190cm. Each sleeper seat reclines to an angle of 170 degrees. All seats feature multi system power sockets with 100w output for laptop computers.

Economy class features ergonomically designed slimline seats offering a 34-inch pitch, more than any other airline operating direct flights between Australia and China.

Air China has also equipped the aircraft with AVOD (Audio Video on Demand) which is offered throughout that cabin on individual 10.4-inch LCD screens. The AVOD system features 60 Video, 100 audio and 10 electronic games channels to make long flights pass quickly. All passengers are also supplied with surround sound headphones for the AVOD system which is offered in Chinese and English as well as several European languages.