SkyTeam is in discussions with several airlines in Asia and South America about them joining the airline alliance, its chairman Leo van Wijk said Friday.

"We are talking to several airlines. Malaysia Airlines is one of them but we are also in talks with candidate members in India and South America", Van Wijk told Dow Jones Newswires, without elaborating.

Van Wijk, former chief executive officer and president of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, is in Shanghai to attend the agreement signing with China Eastern Airlines Co. Ltd (CEA) to join SkyTeam Mid 2011.

"With the joining of China Eastern, SkyTeam will be the absolute market leader in China", Van Wijk said, referring to the link with China Southern Co. Ltd (1055.HK), an existing member of SkyTeam. With both Chinese airlines, SkyTeam will have the three major airports in China--Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou--as dedicated SkyTeam hubs.

"China Eastern joining helps us to hasten the transformation of Shanghai and Beijing to SkyTeam co-locations, as we already have, for instance, in terminal 4 on London Heathrow", Van Wijk said. A SkyTeam co-location is a SkyTeam branded lounge with dedicated handling and service for passengers from SkyTeam airlines.

SkyTeam is now the leading airline alliance in the three most important airline markets, Van Wijk said. "With Air France-KLM (AFLYY), we have the leading airline in Europe. With Delta, including the former Northwest Airlines, we are number one in the U.S., and with China Southern and China Eastern, SkyTeam has the leading position in China. China is the third and fastest growing aviation market worldwide", he said.

China Eastern will add 1250 daily flight and 25 new destinations to the SkyTeam network.

The SkyTeam chairman said that China Southern and China Eastern aren't domestic competitors. "Geographically China is about the size of Europe. In Europe, SkyTeam has five member airlines, so to have two airlines in China is not too much", he said. "As their names suggest, China Southern has South China as home market as China Eastern has East China."

In June 2010 Vietnam Airlines and Tarom from Romania will join SkyTeam as new member airlines. Besides full members, SkyTeam has two associate members: Kenya Airways Ltd. (KAL.NR) and Air Europa from Spain. These airlines offer the same products and services to their passengers as full members but have less governance control. Van Wijk said that SkyTeam will decide "soon" on how to proceed with associate membership.

He said that no decision has been made yet about Shanghai Airlines joining SkyTeam. The airline was taken over by China Eastern in mid-2009 but is still is a member of the competing Star Alliance.

-By Bart Koster and Eelco Hiltermann; Dow Jones Newswires; +31 20 571 5201; bart.koster@dowjones.com