Qatar Airways joins oneworld alliance

by Devesh Agarwal

Flag carrier Qatar Airways becomes part of oneworld® alliance at midnight Doha time tonight, becoming the first carrier from the burgeoning Gulf region to join join any airline alliance. Qatar also joins fellow middle-east carrier Royal Jordanian which is a member of oneworld.

QR633 which departs from Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka for Doha at 03.15 local (00.15 Doha time) and QR1166 from Doha for Riyadh, leaving five minutes later at 00.20 Doha time, will the first flights of Qatar Airways as a oneworld member.

The airline completed its induction procedures within just one year, compared to the typical 18 to 24 months taken to join an alliance.

Qatar Airways, which serves more than 130 destinations in 70 countries will bring 20 of its destinations and five countries – Ethiopia, Iran, Rwanda, Serbia and Tanzania – to the oneworld map. The airline will bring more one-stop transit options for passengers flying between Asia and Europe or between Asia and Africa hitherto less available or unavailable within the oneworld network.

oneworld livery

image courtesy oneworld®

At a ceremony to mark its entry into oneworld, held at Hamad International Airport, which is to be Qatar Airway's new base in the future, the airline “unveiled” the first aircraft in its fleet to be decorated in a special oneworld livery, Boeing 777-300ER registration A7-BAA.

Its distinctive design features “oneworld” in blue letters some 6 ft (2 metre) high along a white fuselage and the airline’s standard tailfin. The airline will decorate three other aircraft in its fleet in this special livery – another 777 and two Airbus A320s.

Starting tonight, oneworld logos will be applied by the side passenger entrance doors on Qatar Airway’s entire fleet of 130 aircraft as part of a massive rebranding programme that will also see the alliance logo added virtually wherever the Qatar Airways name is displayed – at airport check-in desks and signage, on its website, tickets, boarding passes and all items of stationery.

Frequent flier programme

All cardholders in the airline's Privilege Club frequent flyer programme are being sent new membership cards, bearing the oneworld logo and “gemstone” tier indicator. Platinum cardholders will have Emerald status in the oneworld programme, Gold will be equivalent to oneworld Sapphire and Silver will be oneworld Ruby.

The airline is offering a ‘Double miles’ offer to frequent flyer members to celebrate its induction into the alliance. Privilege Club members will receive double Qmiles award miles when flying on Qatar Airways and its oneworld partners between 15 November and 31 January (except between 20 December and 5 January), and (till 24 January for Cathay Pacific). Likewise, oneworld member frequent fliers will receive double mileage when flying Qatar. Please visit the respective airlines' websites for specific information.

Premium passenger terminal only for revenue passengers

Doha Premium Passenger Terminal. Photo © Devesh Agarwal.

From midnight tonight, Privilege Club Platinum and Gold members will be able to access more than 550 airport lounges worldwide offered by oneworld member airlines when they fly with one of the alliance’s carriers.

Qatar Airways’ First and Business Class passengers will also be able to use oneworld partner airline lounges. As oneworld Emeralds, Privilege Club Platinum cardholders will be able to use First Class lounges, where available, and receive an additional baggage allowance and access fast tracks through departure security at select airports.

However, the reciprocation at Doha is not quite equitable. The airline in a release stated that oneworld elite tier passengers flying in economy class would be provided basic lounge facilities in the main terminal at Doha. The premium terminal will be reserved for revenue first and business class passengers only.

Facilities at Qatar Airways' Premium Passenger Terminal at its Doha hub will continue to be accessible only by customers holding First Class or Business Class tickets on Qatar Airways.

What does Qatar's induction mean for India

Qatar Airways as of now is the second largest international carrier to India, with 100+ weekly flights. Earlier this year, Malaysia Airlines joined oneworld, and SriLankan will join the alliance early next year, thus ring-fencing the sub-continent.

In one fell swoop, oneworld now will become the dominant alliance operating in India, and will be a credible alternative to the Star Alliance. Qatar offers competitive connections to most of Europe, and existing members British Airways and Finnair will definitely feel the pinch. Similarly, connections to Africa, and South America, will make joining the alliance interesting for the frequent flier. As of now, the two best frequent flier programmes within the oneworld alliance appears to be American Airline's AAdvantage, and British Airway's Executive Club.

Indian carriers are still dilly-dallying about joining an alliance. Kingfisher was to join oneworld, before its financial implosion. For some unknown reason Air India wants to join only Star, even if the alliance will not have it. With Etihad now in control of Jet, there is no way, it will join oneworld thanks to opposition by Qatar and Royal Jordanian. Turkish would like to keep Etihad out of Star, leaving SkyTeam, where Etihad already has a strategic alliance with Air France-KLM.

oneworld’s biggest membership expansion drive

The addition of Qatar Airways represents the latest landmark in oneworld’s biggest membership expansion yet. Other elements elsewhere in the world include:

• The addition of Malaysia Airlines, strengthening oneworld’s position in South East Asia.
• The induction on 1 October 2013 of LAN Colombia, the second largest airline in South America’s second biggest economy.
• The transition to oneworld on 31 March 2014 by TAM, the leading airline in Latin America’s leading economy, Brazil, with its Paraguayan affiliate to be added soon afterwards. This will complete the consolidation in oneworld of all the passenger carriers in LATAM Airlines Group, the region’s leading airline company, building on oneworld’s position as the leading global airline alliance serving Latin America.
• The introduction early next year of SriLankan Airlines, as the first airline from the Indian subcontinent to join any global alliance, which, with Qatar Airways, will make oneworld the leading alliance in the region.
• The proposed switch by US Airways from Star to oneworld as part of its planned merger with American Airlines, subject to necessary approvals.

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Qatar Airways to fly to Miami from June 2014

by Devesh Agarwal

Image courtesy Qatar Airways

Flag carrier, Qatar Airways, has announced Miami to be its sixth destination in the United States with flights beginning June 10, 2014.

The airline will offer four non-stop flights a week from Doha using a Boeing 777-200LR aircraft in a two class configuration with 42 lie-flat seats in business class, and 217 seats in economy.

The proposed schedule dove-tails well with flights to the Indian sub-continent, which arrive in to Doha early morning, and depart at night.

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday
QR777 departs Doha 08:40 (8:40am) arrives Miami MIA 17:20 (5:20pm). Travel time: 15h40m.
QR778 departs Miami 21:15 (9:15pm) arrives Doha 18:20 (6:20pm) the next day. Travel time: 14h20m.

As it prepares to enter the oneworld alliance, this is a good move by Qatar Airways as Miami is the gateway to Latin America for oneworld original member American Airlines. Qatar already operates to American's hub in Chicago, and to Houston, New York (JFK), and Washington D.C. (Dulles), and will add Philadelphia in April 2014.

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Japan approves Finnair's inclusion in Japan Airlines British Airways joint venture

By BA Staff

Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) has granted anti-trust immunity to the joint business venture between Japan Airlines, Finnair and British Airways.  This paves the way for Finnair to join the existing joint business venture between Japan Airlines and British Airways. The agreement will allow all three airlines to cooperate commercially on flights between Europe and Japan.

The new joint business is expected to be launched next Spring. The addition of Finnair will further enhance customer benefits by providing better links between the EU and Japan, with more flight choices and enhanced frequent flyer benefits. In addition, this new joint business will allow the three airlines to cooperate on expanding their presence within, to and from this important and growing market.

The revenue-sharing agreement will strengthen the oneworld® alliance and enable it to compete more effectively around the world with other global alliances.

President of JAL, Yoshiharu Ueki, said:

"We would like to thank the regulator for approving our application for ATI with Finnair joining Japan Airlines and British Airways in our current joint business between Europe and Japan. Amid the evolving Japanese aviation industry, the ATI will enable us to build a stronger value-creating relationship with British Airways and Finnair that can further benefit our customers as well as our business."

Keith Williams, chief executive of British Airways said:

"Today's decision by the MLIT will benefit the customers of all three airlines by allowing us to explore ways to improve the connections between East and West."

Pekka Vauramo, CEO of Finnair, said:

"We are glad we are now one step closer to starting the cooperation with JAL and British Airways to provide our customers with better connections between the EU Japan."

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oneworld takes its sixth 'best alliance' title of the year

By BA Staff

Readers of Business Traveller magazine have voted oneworld Best Airline Alliance in the magazine’s 2013 readers’ poll.

This is the sixth “best alliance” honor oneworld has received in major international industry award schemes in the past year, a record for any global airline alliance – and it comes as oneworld undergoes the biggest expansion program in its history.

Already in the past 12 months, oneworld has been named best airline alliance in:

• The 2013 World Airline Awards, staged by the Skytrax airline quality ratings agency.
• Global Traveler’s GT Tested Reader Survey 2012 Awards for the third year running.
• World Travel Awards 2012 for the 10th consecutive year.
• Australian Business Traveller 2012 for the second year running.
• The 2012 debut alliance Flight Stats On-Time Performance Awards.
• The Business Traveller award – which oneworld last won in 2005 – was presented at a ceremony in London.   oneworld Vice-President  Corporate Communications received the trophy on behalf of the alliance from BBC TV news anchor Fiona Bruce.

oneworld members also flew high in the individual airline categories of the Business Traveller 2013 awards.

British Airways took the overall top title as Best Airline, with Qatar Airways, which will join oneworld on 30 October, and Cathay Pacific also placed in the top five.

British Airways also took top honors as Best Shorthaul Airline, Best First Class, Best Frequent Flyer Programme and Best Airport Lounge.  Qatar Airways took the award for Best Business Class.

The awards, widely recognised as a benchmark for excellence, are based on a vote by readers of Business Traveller magazine – which has editions for the UK, USA, Asia-Pacific, Germany, Middle East, China, Africa, Hungary, Denmark and Poland – with the results authenticated by an independent auditing company.

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Qatar Airways modifies Privilege Club frequent flier programme

By BA Staff

Photo courtesy and copyright Qatar Airways

Ahead of its joining the oneworld alliance, Qatar Airways unveiled details of its exciting new enhancements made to the airline’s frequent flyer programme – Privilege Club. Speaking about the loyalty programme, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said that customer loyalty is very important to the airline’s growth strategy:

Since Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club loyalty programme launch in 2000, it has firmly established itself as one of the leading frequent flyer reward programmes in the industry, with benefits designed with the traveller in mind. This is an exciting time to be a Qatar Airways Privilege Club member. As a “thank you” to our many loyal members who have been with the programme since its inception, we are delighted to offer enhanced member benefits.

Some of the new introductions include: 

Introduction of the New Platinum Tier:

Platinum will be introduced as the highest tier level in the programme, offering superior benefits and privileges to members who have earned at least 600 Qpoints within a 12 month period. Qpoints are awarded to members to achieve a particular membership status.

Some of the exciting benefits for Platinum members include:

• Tier bonus of  an additional 100% of the base miles
• Qcredits- a new reward benefit which can be redeemed for a selection of services
• No Qmiles expiry as long as Platinum members retain the Platinum tier.
• 5% online discount on award tickets
• Special discount for purchases at Qatar Duty Free

Qcredits:

A brand new reward benefit, Qcredits will be awarded to Gold and Platinum members and can be redeemed for a selection of services such as complimentary upgrades and Excess Baggage on Qatar Airways flights, payment of award fees (incurred during the change / cancellation of award tickets) and guest lounge access at Doha International Airport.

New Tier Qualification And Renewal Thresholds:

Upgrades to the next membership tier will now be easy to achieve as Qpoints earned within any 12 month period will be evaluated daily. Privilege Club’s tier renewal criteria has been modified to consider flights in the last 12 or 24 months to make tier renewal more convenient.

Enhanced Member Benefits:

The Family programme which allows main members to pool their Qmiles for quicker awards will be offered to the entire Privilege Club member base. In addition to spouse and children, main members will be able to nominate parents as family members

• Reduced fees and surcharges applicable on award tickets
• Enrolment age into the programme has been reduced to 12 years to encourage young frequent travellers to have their own membership accounts
• Qmiles that have expired or are about to expire can be extended for a minimal fee

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SriLankan Airlines cancels Kozhikode

by BA Staff

Oneworld member SriLankan Airlines has apparently cancelled its daily Airbus A320 service between Colombo and Kozhikode, Kerala from the end of August (26th August to be exact). The services were run with the schedules below:

UL169 ~ CMB-CCJ ~ D: 1130 A: 1520 ~ A320 ~ x3
UL169 ~ CMB-CCJ ~ D: 1350 A: 1510 ~ A320 ~ 3

UL170 ~ CCJ-CMB D: 1340 A: 1500 ~ A320 ~ x3
UL170 ~ CCJ-CMB D: 1600 A: 1720 ~ A320 ~ 3

The cancellation is interesting news because SriLankan had only recently announced plans to increase its Indian operations. 

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Qatar Airways and British Airways partner on frequent flyer programmes

by BA Staff

Doha-based Qatar Airways has announced a frequent flyer programme (FFP) partnership with its oneworld sponsor, British Airways.

From October 1 onwards, Qatar Airways Privilege Club members and British Airways Executive Club members can earn and redeem miles on each other’s flights.

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Qatar Airways to join oneworld alliance on October 30

by BA Staff

Doha-based Qatar Airways will become a full member of oneworld®, the alliance of airlines, from Wednesday 30 October 2013, becoming the first of the GB3 (Gulf Big 3) slated to join any of the global airline alliances.

It received clearance to board oneworld after successfully completing a thorough review of its readiness, conducted by British Airways, which is sponsoring Qatar Airways’ entry into the alliance, with oneworld’s central team.

Qatar Airways completes its oneworld implementation programme just one year after receiving its invitation to join, announced at a press conference in the alliance’s New York home in October 2012. This will make its induction into oneworld one of the fastest in the alliance’s history. Normally it takes around 18 months for any airline to be readied to enter any alliance.

Qatar Airways’ addition to oneworld will come shortly before the airline moves into its new home base, Hamad International Airport, which has been designed to strengthen Doha’s position as a premium global hub, with an eventual capacity for 50 million passengers a year.

From Wednesday, October 30, Qatar Airways will offer oneworld’s full range of services and benefits. The three million members of Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club loyalty programme will enjoy frequent flyer privileges whenever they fly with any oneworld member airlines – airberlin, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines and some 30 affiliated airlines. This includes earning and redeeming Qmiles for awards and earning Qpoints for tier status when flying with all these airlines.

oneworld member airlines with designate Qatar Airways

Privilege Club Platinum cardholders will have Emerald status in the oneworld programme. Privilege Club Gold will be equivalent to oneworld Sapphire and Privilege Club Silver will be oneworld Ruby.

From 30 October, Privilege Club Platinum and Gold members will be able to access 550 airport lounges worldwide offered by oneworld member airlines when they fly with one of the alliance’s carriers. Qatar Airways’ First and Business Class passengers will also be able to use oneworld partner airline lounges.

Also from 30 October, the 130 million members of the established oneworld airlines’ frequent flyer programmes will be able to earn and redeem awards and tier status points and receive all other oneworld benefits on Qatar Airways.

Qatar Airways is already participating in Global Explorer, the round-the-world fare offered by all oneworld members and various airlines that are not part of the alliance.

More than 20 of its destinations and five countries – Ethiopia, Iran, Rwanda, Serbia and Tanzania – will be new to the oneworld map. More significantly, Qatar Airways will substantially strengthen the alliance’s customer offering by providing superior routing alternatives across many hundreds of city pairs. For example, passengers flying between Asia and Southern Europe or between Asia and Africa will now have convenient one-stop connections not previously available within the oneworld network.

The alliance is currently undergoing the biggest expansion in its history with:

• The addition of Malaysia Airlines, one of this industry’s most frequent award winners, six months ago, further strengthening oneworld’s position in South East Asia, one of the fastest growing regions for air travel demand.
• The switch in the second quarter of next year to oneworld from the Star Alliance by TAM, the leading airline in Latin America’s leading economy, Brazil, along with its Paraguayan affiliate, following the addition to oneworld on 1 October 2013 of the newest member of the LAN group, LAN Colombia, solidifying oneworld’s position as the leading alliance in Latin America.
• The introduction early next year of SriLankan Airlines, as the first airline from the Indian subcontinent to join any global alliance, which, with Qatar Airways, will make oneworld the leading alliance in the region.
• In addition, US Airways proposes to switch from Star to oneworld as part of its planned merger with American Airlines, subject to necessary approvals.

With Qatar Airways and the other airlines lining up to join, oneworld will:

• Serve almost a thousand airports in more than 150 countries, with 14,000 daily departures.
• Carry 480 million passengers a year on a combined fleet of almost 3,500 aircraft.
• Generate US$ 140 billion annual revenues.

Qatar Airways’ oneworld implementation programme has represented one of the most extensive projects in the airline’s 16-year history, with working groups covering some 20 streams of activity. Projects are nearing completion to bring its various internal processes and procedures into line with the alliance’s requirements, and extensive employee training and communications programmes are now underway at Qatar Airways and the alliance’s established members, to ensure they are ready to provide oneworld’s customer services and benefits across the expanded alliance from 30 October.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said:

“In Qatar Airways’ relatively short history, we have quickly established a reputation for innovation, quality and excellence in everything we do. We are pleased to build on that by becoming the only major airline from the Gulf to date to be joining any of the global airline alliances. We are proud to entering the best of them, in oneworld – and to be doing so in record quick time. We very much look forward to flying alongside some of the best airlines in the world from 30 October, bringing the heightened benefits offered by oneworld to our customers.”

oneworld CEO Bruce Ashby said:

“Quality has always been the hallmark of oneworld, so we are pleased to be adding to our alliance another of the world’s highest quality airlines, in Qatar Airways. oneworld aims to be the first choice alliance for frequent international travelers the world over. Qatar Airways will significantly improve our connectivity between many of the destinations that are most important to those customers. We look forward to welcoming it and its customers on board the world’s leading airline alliance.”

Images courtesy oneworld and Qatar Airways

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Analysis: SriLankan Airlines to grow its Indian operations

by Vinay Bhaskara

According to a report from the Press Trust of India, newly minted oneworld alliance member SriLankan Airlines is eyeing an expansion of its Indian operations by adding 12 new weekly flights to tap into its burgeoning hub at Colombo's Bandaranaike International Airport.

SriLankan Airlines chairman Nishantha Wickremasinghe had this to say about Sri Lankan's plans

We have not exhausted all the routes given to us under the bilateral agreement and have room to include more destinations." "The travellers come to Colombo for onward connection to West Asia and Far East as we plan to make Colombo an important hub... We cover most of the cities in India. For instance we fly four times a day from Chennai to Colombo and once a day from Madurai, Tiruchi and Kochi and also from Delhi and Mumbai with near full capacity on every flight. We also operate flights to Budha Gaya and Varanasi to cater to Buddhist passengers.

After facing challenges earlier this decade as the guerrilla war with the Tamil Tigers crescendo-ed to a close, SriLankan has rapidly remade itself into an aggressive international player on the Indian sub-continent and today has the farthest reaching European and Asian network of any airline on the subcontinent.

The carrier is scheduled to join the oneworld alliance of airlines later this year, and now operates a fleet of 23 aircraft (8 Airbus A320, 7 Airbus A330-200, 6 Airbus A340-300, 2x DHC-6-100) serving 33 destinations across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

India is a key part of the carrier's growth strategy, and in conjunction with LCC subsidiary Mihin Lanka (both carriers are owned by the Sri Lankan government), operates 92 flights per week from Sri Lanka to India, serving 10 destinations and 11 routes as shown below.

Route	Frequency	Aircraft	Notes
Colombo-Bangalore	10	A320
Colombo-Chennai	7	A340-300
	12	A320
	2	A330-200
Colombo-Delhi	3	A321	*Operated by Mihin Lanka
	7	A320
Colombo-Kochi	14	A320
Colombo-Mumbai	7	A320
Colombo-Trichy	14	A320
Colombo-Trivandrum	7	A320
Colombo-Madurai	4	A321	*Operated by Mihin Lanka
Colombo-Gaya	2	A321	*Operated by Mihin Lanka
Colombo-Varanasi	2	A321	*Operated by Mihin Lanka
Hambantota-Gaya	1	A320	*Operated by Mihin Lanka
TOTAL	92

As for the new flights, it would make sense for Sri Lankan to expand its operations into new Indian cities. In 2008, the carrier had pulled out from Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Kozhikode, and Kochi (before resuming Kochi in 2011) citing demand weakness.

Today, though, SriLankan is a much stronger airline today, with a better local economy and a bigger pool of connectivity to draw upon at Colombo. Any (or all) of these three destinations would make sense as expansion points for SriLankan.

Kolkata likely does not have enough origin and destination (O&D) demand, even though the market is currently un-served. Madurai might be able to support SriLankan, but it also has existing competition from low cost carriers (LCCs) SpiceJet and sees service from partner Mihin Lanka. It might also make sense to achieve part of the growth by using Mihin Lanka to grow flights from Hambantota's Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport.

Currently Sri Lankan's third largest operation by available seat kilometers (ASKs - trailing Colombo and the Asian mini-hub in Bangkok), Hambantota already sees international service to Bangkok, Male, and Gaya. Adding, say a twice weekly Hambantota-Chennai utilizing A320 equipment might make sense for SriLankan.

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Analysis: Qatar Airways to Philadelphia -- Etihad upgrades New York JFK

Major route announcements came from 2 Middle Eastern carriers yesterday, with Qatar Airways announcing plans to start new services to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (as well as Addis Ababa and Clark in the Philippines) and newly minted Jet Airways partner Etihad Airways revealing an up-gauge in capacity on its daily Abu Dhabi-New York JFK services to a Boeing 777-300ER.

For Qatar Airways, Doha-Philadelphia services will be launched in March of 2014. The airline had previously stated that its next US destination would be one of Atlanta, Boston, or Detroit. But the announcement of the mega-merger between US Airways and American Airlines, Qatar Airways’ oneworld partner, changed the calculus on US services. Philadelphia will be the new American’s gateway to the Northeast, and of current US destinations for Qatar Airways, one of two to offer serious connectivity through its oneworld partner American. When coupled with existing flights to American’s hub at Chicago’s O’hare International Airport, Qatar Airways has effectively bracketed the entire Eastern United States in terms of its network. There is also significant O&D traffic to support this route. While Philadelphia itself doesn’t have huge business travel demand to Asia, the Philadelphia metro area, especially the New Jersey suburbs, are home to huge numbers of Asians, primarily from the Indian subcontinent. When combined with the affluent base of South Asians in Central NJ, the Philly flight has a significant O&D base behind it, and allows Qatar Airways to bracket the South Asian VFR demand in New Jersey with flights on either end.

Meanwhile, rival Etihad Airways is up-gauging its own services Abu Dhabi – New York JFK to a daily Boeing 777-300ER from the current Airbus A340-500. The 777-300ER will offer a total of 328 seats (8F/40J/280Y), an increase of 36.6% over the current 240. The move can be tied in part to the recently born Jetihad, which will deliver increased demand from the Indian subcontinent for Etihad’s westbound intercontinental services. Jetihad will also result in services from Abu Dhabi to Newark, likely on a 777-300ER as well, and daily 777-300ERs to both Newark and JFK is a good bracketing strategy for the NYC area.

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Photo Essay: Malaysia Airlines joins oneworld, unveils special livery aircraft. oneworld double mileage offer.

by Devesh Agarwal, reporting from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Malaysia Airlines officially joined the oneworld alliance of airlines, as its 12th member, at 12:01am Malaysia Time (+8 GMT), earlier today.

A day earlier on January 31, the airline had a series of events to celebrate its joining the alliance. Bangalore Aviation was present at the occasion, and brings you this photo essay of the events of the day.

In the morning the airline unveiled its aircraft painted in the special oneworld livery. In the evening, the Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Jauhari (AJ) Yahya formally signed the joining contract at a live televised press event. The evening ended with a gala full sit down dinner with over 400 guests.

All ceremonies were attended by the CEOs of oneworld, and its member airlines, uniformed representatives (cabin and customer service crew) of all the airlines, and the world media.

The gala dinner added ministers and senior officers from the Malaysian Government, ambassadors to Malaysia from the home country of each the oneworld member and member-elect airlines, the airlines' most elite frequent flyers, a host of beauty queens, including the Malaysia Airlines cabin crew, amongst others.

Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-300 9M-MTE in special oneworld livery. See another photo here.
This aircraft performed the first flight of the airline as a member of oneworld in the early hours of Feb 1 from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne.

The other 88 aircraft of the airline will wear the oneworld orb near the front doors. One Airbus A380 and one Boeing 737-800 will also be painted in the special oneworld livery in the coming months.

(L-R) Alan Joyce, CEO, QANTAS who sponsored Malaysia Airlines entry in to oneworld, Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Jauhari (AJ) Yahya, Bruce Ashby, CEO, oneworld.

AJ Yahya flanked by fellow CEOs, or senior management reps of oneworld member airlines. There is a genuine warmth and affection between Alan and AJ which was visible throughout the day. CEOs who attended the function were Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce, oneworld CEO Bruce Ashby, Cathay Pacific Airways Chief Executive John Slosar, Finnair President and Chief Executive Mika Vehvilainen, Japan Airlines Chairman Masaru Onishi, Member elect SriLankan Airlines Chairman Nishantha Wickramasinghe and Chief Executive Kapila Chandrasena.

Uniformed cabin crew representatives from each of the oneworld member airlines standing top to bottom of the stairs in alphabetical order. AirBerlin, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN Chile, QANTAS, Royal Jordanian, S7 Russian Airlines, and Malaysia Airlines. The Master or rather mistress of ceremonies kept referring to the crew as "girls" requesting them to line up, forgetting that British Airways was represented by Mr. Dave.

CEOs, management reps, uniformed reps, and senior Malaysian government, immigration, airports, and customs officers.

In the humid, sticky heat, it was amazing to see how the Malaysia Airlines cabin crew of Ms. Nur Syaza and Mr. Shahrulufti kept their cool and make-up intact, despite being in full uniform. Incidentally, Malaysia Airlines has won the "World's Best Cabin Staff" award from Skytrax seven of the last 11 years.

Alan Joyce, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, and Bruce Ashby, celebrate after signing the contract

For photos from the gala evening, please visit the Malaysia Airlines Facebook page.

Notable quotes from the three key CEOs.

Group Chief Executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said

"Becoming a member of oneworld is one of the most significant landmarks in Malaysia Airlines' history. It will strengthen our competitive position considerably, enabling us to offer our customers a truly global network together with our partners who include some of the best and biggest airlines in the world. At the same time, it will enable us to benefit from all the financial benefits that come from being part of a global alliance, through additional passenger feed and the learning from best practices that it affords. As an airline that has always be proud to offer the highest quality Malaysian Hospitality, we are very pleased and honoured to be lining up as part of what is clearly the world's top quality airline grouping."

Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said

"Qantas has been delighted to support Malaysia Airlines throughout its oneworld joining process, and we are very pleased now to be able to welcome another great airline on board the world's premier global airline alliance."

oneworld Chief Executive Bruce Ashby

"oneworld aims to be the first choice alliance for the world's frequent international travellers - with an unrivalled collection of quality carriers, delivering unmatched benefits to customers and to member airlines alike. That remains our focus today, as the alliance adds another great airline. Malaysia Airlines strengthens the alliance's offering in the growing economic powerhouse of South East Asia, just as we expect oneworld to strengthen Malaysia Airlines' competitive and financial positions."

Double miles offer

To celebrate the addition of the Malaysia Airlines to the alliance oneworld has announced a special double miles offer to cardholders of all oneworld® member airlines' frequent flyer programmes - including those of Malaysia Airlines' Enrich.

Members of Malaysia Airlines' Enrich loyalty scheme will receive double Enrich award miles when flying between 15 February 2013 and 15 April 2013 on oneworld partners airberlin, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines and around 30 of their affiliated airlines on tickets bought from today to 15 April 2013, provided they register first at the Enrich website.

Similarly, the 125 million members of existing oneworld airlines' loyalty programmes will receive double mileage awards when flying on Malaysia Airlines between 15 February 2013 and 15 April 2013. Each of the member airlines' website has more details.

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Exclusive photos: Malaysia Airlines joins oneworld alliance. Airbus A330 in special oneworld livery

National carrier Malaysia Airlines joins the oneworld alliance from tomorrow. Bangalore Aviation is in Kuala Lumpur to cover the event.

Below are some exclusive photos of Malaysia Airlines' Airbus A330-300 9M-MTE in the special oneworld livery. The airline will also paint one its Boeing 737-800's and one Airbus A380 superjumbo in the oneworld livery at a later date. Till then they will wear the oneworld orb next to their doors.

CEO's and representatives from all the members of the alliance were present at the ceremony.

Enjoy these special exclusive photos, brought to you first by Bangalore Aviation.

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Analysis: Malaysia Airlines entrance into OneWorld strengthens the alliance's network and Indian presence

by Vinay Bhaskara

Malaysia Airlines A330-300 9M-MTE in oneworld livery

On February 1st. 2013, Kuala  Lampur based Malaysian national carrier Malaysia Airlines will officially join the OneWorld alliance, a partnership of11 airlines around the world that serves more than 849 destinations globally. Malaysia Airlines serves 61 destinations on a fleet of 105 aircraft, and enjoys a strong reputation as one of the premier airlines in Southeast Asia, and the world. While it ran into some financial difficulties in 2010 and 2011, a successful restructuring program involving capacity cutbacks and fleet streamlining under the leadership of Malaysia Airlines Group chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya has restored the airline towards a more optimal path.

From a OneWorld perspective, Malaysia Airlines fulfills an important strategic hole from a network perspective. Prior to its entry, OneWorld had very little presence in Southeast Asia outside of long haul service to major destinations like Singapore and Bangkok. Meanwhile Star Alliance has the networks of both Singapore Airlines and Thai Aiways International to leverage for travel to secondary and tertiary Southeast Asian destinations, while SkyTeam can tap into the fast growing markets of Vietnam and Indonesia through the newly minted membership of Vietnam Airlines and Garuda respectively. However, with Malaysia Airlines (and Sri Lankan to some degree) now in the fold, OneWorld instantly shoots into second place in the region, with the partnership of a world-class airline with a strong service reputation that has a strong network of Southeast Asian destinations.

The network improvement is especially important for OneWorld carriers because it now offers them another premium option with a strong onboard product and excellent ground service to offer to high yield frequent flyers and business travelers. It adds several new Southeast Asian destinations to OneWorld’s offering which makes OneWorld more attractive relative to SkyTeam and Star Alliance. Frequent flyers and high yield business travelers will now be more likely to fly OneWorld member airlines.

From an Indian perspective, Malaysia Airlines serves Bengaluru, Chennai, Dellhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai; every major Indian Metro outside of Kolkata. But the real value comes in the fact that it offers the first easy connecting service  between India and Southeast Asia. Before, passengers flying between India and Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, and even Australia would have had to endure a significant detour to Hong Kong or Tokyo in order to fly OneWorld carriers. Now, there is a more direct option for Indian travelers. Best of all, they can earn rewards points in a OneWorld frequent flyer program, which can be redeemed for travel throughout the OneWorld network, and earn elite benefits. This should help shift customers with significant Indian travel onto other OneWorld flights to and from India as well, improving group profitability as a whole. The addition of Malaysia Airlines (and Sri Lankan to some degree) significantly strengthens OneWorld’s presence in the Indian market, and the alliance as a whole.

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American Airlines adds new Latin American routes, moves closer to LATAM

by Vinay Bhaskara

Yesterday, Dallas Fort Worth based American Airlines announced an expansion of its Latin American network, saying that it would launch services between its largest hub at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Bogota, Colombia, as well as a likely triangular routing between its largest Latin American gateway at Miami and the Brazilian cities of Porto Alegre and Curitiba. Both services are projected to begin in "late 2013."

The move marks American's latest round of long haul expansion in Dallas after it announced service from Dallas - Fort Worth to Lima, Peru and Seoul, South Korea earlier this year and recently took delivery of its first Boeing 777-300ER. Following its entrance into Ch.11 bankruptcy protection in late 2011, American had temporarily slowed down international growth. But that pattern appears to have shifted, and both of these additions make a lot of sense.

Dallas-Bogota allows American to connect with Oneworld partner LAN Colombia (via the newly signed code share agreement) and serve a growing local market, while the burgeoning economic and cultural ties between Miami and Brazil with robust leisure and business traffic alike will make the second route a winner (Porto Alegre is the one of the largest Brazilian cities without service to Miami).

Additionally, they launched two new code shares in the region; the aforementioned LAN Colombia deal and another agreement with Brazilian carrier TAM. "American's new partnerships with TAM and LAN Colombia further strengthen our longstanding relationship with LATAM Airlines Group, Latin America's largest and most premier airline group," said Virasb Vahidi, American's Chief Commercial Officer.

After LAN and TAM merged late last year to create Latin America's largest airline, it was rumored that the merged carrier would gravitate towards the Oneworld alliance (TAM was previously a member of Star Alliance), and the new code share agreement only firms that suspicion. The deal will expand American's already massive Brazilian footprint and give Oneworld customers more seamless connections throughout the Americas.

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Malaysia Airlines to join oneworld alliance on Feburary 1

Malaysia Airlines will become a full member of the oneworld® alliance on Friday February 1, 2013. The national airline of Malaysia received clearance after successfully completing a review of its readiness conducted by its mentor, Qantas, along with the oneworld central team.

Malaysia Airlines' Airbus A380 superjumbo makes a high speed pass over the Farnborough air show 2012.

Malaysia Airlines' entry in to the alliance is being delayed due to the end-of-year holiday season and for "other administrative reasons".

The 2 million members of Malaysia Airlines' Enrich loyalty programme will integrate with oneworld member airlines - airberlin, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN Airlines, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, and S7 Airlines and some 25 affiliated airlines.

Editor's note: Because of an upgrade to LAN's frequent flyer information technology system being implemented shortly after Malaysia Airlines joins oneworld, frequent flyer services and benefits between Malaysia Airlines and LAN will be available from 1 April 2013.

Enrich Platinum cardholders will have Emerald status in the oneworld programme. Enrich Gold will be equivalent to oneworld Sapphire and Enrich Silver will be oneworld Ruby. Enrich Platinum and Gold members will be able to use any of the 550 airport lounges worldwide offered by oneworld member airlines whenever they fly with any of the alliance's carriers. Malaysia Airlines' First and Business Class passengers will also be able to use oneworld partner airline lounges.

Malaysia Airlines will substantially expand the alliance's network in South East Asia, where it will add 14 destinations and one country - Brunei - to the oneworld map.More importantly, the carrier will fill the large hole in the alliance's coverage between the middle east and south-east Asia.

Malaysia Airlines started operations in 1947. Today, it serves more than 60 destinations in almost 30 countries across Asia, Australasia, Middle East, Europe, and North America, including oneworld hubs Hong Kong, London Heathrow, Los Angeles, Sydney and Tokyo Haneda and Narita.
Its present fleet of 88 aircraft - including its flagship Airbus A380s - operates more than 250 departures a day. It boarded 13 million passengers in 2011, generating revenues of MYR 13.6 billion (US$ 4.5 billion).

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Post your views: Topic of the week: Global alliances accept the Middle East Big 3 (MEB 3)

This topic this week is focussed on the Gulf region home of the fast rising behemoths Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad.

The last few days have been startling to say the least. From competing head-on, the airlines of the world, have accepted, nay welcomed, the Middle East Big 3 (MEB3) of Emirates, Qatar, and Etihad.

A few weeks back the shocker of an announcement, Australia's QANTAS was dumping oneworld partner, and virtual cousin, British Airways, in favour of (gasp) Emirates!!!! and.... QANTAS, the second largest airline at Singapore Changi airport, will shift its base to Dubai!!!!!

Then the week began with news that Abu Dhabi based Etihad is signing a long term partnership with SkyTeam founders Air France-KLM and in a rare instance of cross alliance cooperation, Air France and KLM will code share with oneworld member airberlin, in which, Etihad, has an almost 29% stake. SkyTeam cooperating with oneworld cooperating with MEB3 mon dieu!!!! H'as the world gone mad?!?!?

On Tuesday came the announcement that Qatar Airways is joining the oneworld alliance and its mentor is, yes you guessed it, British Airways. Willie Walsh to Alan Joyce, I say, good show. What chaps??

What are your thoughts?

Have the MEB3 become mainstream? With their global footprint, will they benefit or wreak havoc on their partners over the long term? Can the oneworld CEOs contain Mr. Akbar Al Baker?

Share your views. Talk back to your fellow readers.

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Qatar Airways to join oneworld alliance

Doha based, Qatar Airways is to join oneworld® airline alliance. Its election as a oneworld member designate was announced today at a press conference in New York.

The Doha-based airline's implementation into oneworld is expected to take between 12 and 18 months. British Airways will serve as the carrier's sponsor in joining oneworld. This move comes close on the heals of British Airways' close partner Qantas entering in to a strategic partnership with Gulf behemoth, and Qatar's strong competitor, Emirates airline.

Qatar Airways will be oneworld's second member airline based in the Middle East, alongside Royal Jordanian, which joined oneworld in 2007. In just 15 years of operations, Qatar Airways has built up a strong network serving 120 destinations in 70 countries. The airline operates over 100 flights a week to India, second only to Emirates.

Qatar Airways already code-shares with oneworld member designate Malaysia Airlines. It will develop bilateral links with more airlines in the alliance as it moves towards becoming a member of the group. Two oneworld member airlines currently serve Qatar's Doha hub - British Airways from London, and Royal Jordanian from Amman, along with member elect SriLankan, from Colombo. Additionally London is a major focus destination for Qatar Airways. The airline recently opened an ultra-premium lounge at Heathrow airport.

Among those alongside Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker at today's New York press conference to welcome the airline to oneworld were American Airlines' Chairman and Chief Executive Tom Horton, Chairman of the oneworld Governing Board; Chief Executive of IAG, parent of British Airways and Iberia, Willie Walsh; oneworld CEO Bruce Ashby; and senior representatives from other oneworld member airlines.

L-R Tom Horton (American), Akbar Al Baker (Qatar), Willie Walsh (IAG), Bruce Ashby (oneworld)

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said:

"Alliances are playing an increasingly important role in the airline industry today - and that will continue long into the future. Qatar Airways has carefully reviewed its strategic options and it is very clear that joining oneworld is by far the best way forward for us as we look to strengthen our competitive offering and give passengers what they fully deserve - more choice. Like Qatar Airways, oneworld is focused on quality and providing the best connections between the places most important to today's frequent international travellers.

"In Qatar Airways' relatively short history, we have quickly established a reputation for innovation, quality and excellence in everything we do, raising standards which our industry peers have watched with envy. We are pleased to build on that by becoming the only major airline from the Gulf to date to be invited to join any of the global airline alliances - and we are proud to have been invited to join the best of them, in oneworld. We look forward to completing all the joining requirements as soon as possible, and to fly alongside some of the best airlines in the world long into the future, bringing heightened benefits offered by oneworld to our customers."

American Airlines' Chairman and Chief Executive Tom Horton, Chairman of the oneworld Governing Board, said:

"Quality has always been the hallmark of oneworld, so we are pleased to welcome to our alliance another of the world's highest quality airlines. oneworld aims to be the first choice alliance for frequent international travelers the world over. Adding Qatar Airways will significantly improve our connectivity between many of the destinations that are most important to those customers, so today's agreement with Qatar Airways will enable us to offer even more value."

Willie Walsh, Chief Executive of IAG, parent of British Airways and Iberia, said:

"In Qatar Airways, oneworld is pleased to welcome another great airline that will enhance oneworld's network and product offerings in one of the world's fastest growing regions for air travel demand. Its fine reputation for customer service mirrors oneworld's own focus. British Airways is delighted to be serving as the sponsor of Qatar Airways in joining oneworld."

oneworld CEO Bruce Ashby added:

"The big three Gulf carriers have been embraced by millions of consumers the world over - just as consumers have embraced global airline alliances. Our own analysis clearly demonstrated that Qatar Airways is the best fit for oneworld's network, requirements, philosophy and strategy. oneworld is delighted to be the first of the global alliances to welcome a member airline from this region, enabling us to be the first to offer consumers the services and benefits offered by both a global alliance and a Gulf carrier. We look forward to welcoming another great airline to oneworld.

"oneworld's flexible approach to bilateral cooperation with carriers outside our alliance means that links already established between our member airlines with other carriers from this region may continue in tandem with Qatar Airways' addition to oneworld, further strengthening the choice and convenience we collectively offer our customers."

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Star Alliance members reject Air India, invite Jet Airways. Air India should choose oneworld

The Star Alliance, a global grouping of 27 airlines, has rejected the application of national carrier Air India to join the group. In over 14 years, and 28 applicants, this is the first time the application of any airline has been rejected.

A source, who wants to remain anonymous, confirmed, the alliance had effectively rejected Air India's application last year itself, but for diplomatic reasons termed the action, at that time, as a "suspension". The mountainous losses of Air India, and its crashing brand value, especially due to the recent pilots' strike, proved to be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. At a recent meeting, it is learnt, the majority of members of the alliance voted to reject Air India's application. The ballot is done in extreme secret and even the alliance members do not know of the vote of other members.

This rejection opens the door for India's largest private airline, Jet Airways, who has always eyed joining the alliance. Our co-editor Vinay Bhaskara has done an analysis on what this means for Jet.

As per a report in the Business Standard,

Ajit Singh, Minister for Civil Aviation, Government of India, said, “To be part of the Alliance, every member has to agree and that has not happened, especially after the pilots’ strike, when we lost a lot of credibility. They have practically said no, and had sent us a letter last week. We have asked Air India to look for other options and alliances.” Air India will now hold talks with other airline alliances like Sky Team and One World,

Which alliance for Air India?

In our opinion, oneworld will be the next best choice for Air India. The alliance is strongly committed to India, coming agonisingly close to being the first alliance to induct an Indian carrier, Kingfisher Airlines, before the carrier financially imploded. The alliance has also seen the closure of other members, Hungary's Malev and Mexico's Mexicana. So it is hungry for new members. The CEO of oneworld, Bruce Ashby, has strong Indian aviation experience as CEO of LCC IndiGo, and can work the delicate egos of the Indian bureaucracy.

Air India already operates flights to many oneworld hubs, London (British), Chicago and New York (American), Hong Kong (Cathay), Singapore (Cathay and Qantas), and Tokyo (JAL). Soon it will also commence flights to Sydney, hub of Qantas. Conversely, all existing oneworld carriers, save American, Qantas and LAN, operate to either, or both, Air India's hubs in Delhi and Mumbai.

oneworld currently has a weak presence in the Indian and South Asian market, and lacks strong connecting hubs east of Helsinki and west of Singapore. Amman, Jordan is too small, and Colombo, Sri Lanka is too far South.


Along with Air India, oneworld can bridge this gap and gain a commanding presence in the Gulf to South-East Asia geography with the upcoming entries of Malaysia Airlines, and Sri Lankan Airlines.

T3 in Delhi is already a true connecting hub for Air India, has an existing strong portfolio of destinations, not just in India, but across south Asia, and the Gulf. One the integrated terminal 2 is completed in Mumbai, it will only add to the hub strength of Air India.

Adding Air India to the fold would also solve one of oneworld's biggest problems; getting passengers to and from secondary Indian destinations. Air India already operates connecting flights from various cities across India to connect and feed its long distance international flights from Delhi and Mumbai.

Having solved many of its system's problems during the attempted integration with Star, Air India will also be far more ready, and its integration quicker, should oneworld decide to pursue a partnership.

Air India used to provide good inflight service, and with the assistance of oneworld and the backing of respected airlines like British Airways and Cathay Pacific would hopefully allow Air India to re-shape itself as an excellent service provider.

Frequent Flyer Programme

With Jet being invited and a virtual shoo-in to join the Star Alliance, its frequent flyer programme (FFP) JetPrivilege is going to get a massive boost, with members being able to accrue and redeem miles across all the member airlines. Air India's Flying Returns FFP risks being swept away and becoming irrelevant as both passengers and partners seek a broader base.

 oneworld members have been voted as having the best FFPs in the world, American Airlines in the Americas, British Airways in Europe and Africa, and Cathay Pacific in the Asia, Middle East, Oceania geographies respectively. An alliance with oneworld will also provide Air India the similar broad-basing as well as linkages with existing oneworld partners in the non-airline section.

What are your thoughts? Share a comment via our new Disqus 2012 comment system below.

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Analysis: SriLankan Airlines set to join oneworld in 2013

Will SriLankan Airline's entry into oneworld force a change in the carrier's network strategy?

Image courtesy Wikimedia

Early Monday, SriLankan Airlines, the flag carrier of India’s southernmost neighbor, is set to be announced as the newest member of the oneworld, the global alliance of airlines. The carrier, which serves 60 destinations on a fleet of 21 aircraft, will add Kochi, Tiruchirapalli and Thiruvananthapuram to oneworld’s network of 850 destinations in 150 countries.

Sri Lankan’s entry into oneworld is being sponsored by Cathay Pacific, which serves SriLankan’s hub in Colombo 7 times per week from its own hub in Hong Kong via Singapore and Bangkok onboard Boeing 777-300 aircraft. SriLankan Airlines also has a code-share agreement with oneworld member-elect Malaysian Airlines and plans to implement code-shares with oneworld members Royal Jordanian and S7 Airlines. The carrier will enter the alliance in 2013.

"With the world airline industry increasingly focused on alliances, SriLankan has carried out in-depth analysis of the options open to the airline as we enter this latest phase of our development. Oneworld is very clearly the best option for us. Joining the alliance will help put SriLankan more firmly on the global aviation map and vastly improve our connections with the rest of the world," says airline chairman Nishantha Wickremasinghe.

For SriLankan, there is clear value added with entry into oneworld. The carrier already serves 3 Oneworld hubs; Tokyo, Moscow, and London and is rumored to be starting up service to 2 more; Sydney and Melbourne. Now, it will have access to the global alliance’s network and its marketing arm, which can help it win more passengers away from competitors, and add incremental sales revenue. Its frequent flyer base, limited as that may be, will also get expanded redemption opportunities around the globe.

From oneworld’s side, the value proposition is a little less clear. To a certain degree, simply adding an airline to the network, especially one in a region that can be considered a “hole” for that alliance, is always a good thing. And to the extent that South Asia is a hole for oneworld, that is true of SriLankan’s entry. But adding such a small airline doesn’t really do much for oneworld’s coverage of South Asia (really India). And Sri Lankan’s long haul network strategy, which consists of less than daily flights (in a lot of cases less than 3 per week) to a broad base of destinations scheduled for O&D purposes, isn’t exactly conducive to an alliance seeking to provide seamless global connectivity.

That’s not to say that Sri Lankan won’t have immediate benefits for oneworld. Oneworld frequent flyers will now have many more redemption options, especially to Colombo and Male (where Sri Lankan operate a whopping 38 flights per week). But I do think that entrance into oneworld will necessitate some changes in SriLankan’s network. For a long time now, oneworld has had substandard coverage of India. While its European connections are competitive, both SkyTeam, and especially Star Alliance have taken advantage of hubs located in regions with strong ethnic ties (Saudi Arabia and Singapore/Bangkok respectively) to strengthen their reach within India’s second and third tier cities.

The entrance of Kingfisher Airlines into the alliance was supposed to have solved this problem, but since Kingfisher’s entry was suspended indefinitely back in February, oneworld once again has problems here. SriLankan currently serves 7 Indian destinations; Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi, Tiruchirapalli and Thiruvananthapuram. To add more value into oneWorld, look for SriLankan to also add (in some cases restore) flights to regional Indian destinations like Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Mangalore, Vijaywada, Kozhikode, and Pune. Doing so would substantially increase SriLankan and oneworld’s penetration into the Indian market.

However, to take full advantage of this would also necessitate a restructuring (moderate) of SriLankan’s longer haul operations. Currently, the carrier serves Tokyo 4 times per week, and London 7 times per week after cancelling 4 weekly service via Male, as well as twice weekly services to Moscow via Dubai on an Airbus A320. Reportedly, SriLankan is looking to add 9 further long-haul aircraft to the fleet by 2015; a mix of Airbus A330-300 and Boeing 777s. What this would allow is for SriLankan to enhance its long haul operation to better fit in with oneworld. London could be buffed up back to 12 flights per week (its level this summer), Tokyo could be made daily, and Moscow could be de-coupled from Dubai. The airline also has leeway in adding new sub-daily services to oneworld hubs like Berlin, Dusseldorf, Madrid, and the like. Thus in time, SriLankan Airlines’ network will likely shift to become a stronger asset for the oneworld alliance.

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Podcast: Why was Kingfisher's entry into oneworld delayed, and what next for the airline?

In this podcast Addison, Vinay and I discuss the events that caused oneworld to suspend Kingfisher Airline's entry in to the alliance.

As an update, the higher amount of deposit demanded by the IATA Clearing House (ICH) is $8 million i.e. a total of $11.5 million.

Kingfisher is still paying in this money to ICH, but we understand that as of this morning it has not, and the airline still remains suspended from the ICH.

We tried clarifying this with the airline, but regretably the official spokespersons are not responding to our queries.

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