Star Alliance partners combine routes

US Airways -- which has asked the Transportation department for permission to delay the start of its recently awarded Philadelphia-Beijing route for a year, to 2010 -- has formed a new code-share pact with Air China. Both airlines are members of the global Star Alliance. Under terms of the partnership, US Airways will put its code onto Air China’s transpacific flights to Beijing from Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York JFK. Persons who book the LAX-Beijing or SFO-Beijing service on Air China will also be able to book a connection between Beijing and Shanghai as a US Airways-coded flight. The code-shares are already available for purchase through US Airways. In return, Air China will put its code on US Airways flights from LAX and SFO to Phoenix, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.