Oneworld has warmly welcomed the announcement by Japan Airlines that it is to seek membership of the…
Oneworld has warmly welcomed the announcement by Japan Airlines that it is to seek membership of the world`s leading quality global airline alliance.
JAL is the biggest carrier in the Asia-Pacific region. In terms of group revenues, it would become the largest member of Oneworld. Using virtually all other measures, it would be in the alliance`s biggest three, alongside American Airlines and British Airways.
Until today, Japan Airlines was the only one among the 20 biggest international airlines in the world (IATA members) not to have joined or sought membership of one of the three key airline groupings.
Oneworld brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business – Qantas, Iberia, Cathay Pacific, LAN, Finnair and Aer Lingus, besides American Airlines and British Airways, plus their 12 affiliates.
Royal Jordanian is a member elect, and will start offering the alliance`s services and benefits from around the turn of 2006/2007. Hungary`s Malev signed a memorandum of understanding in May 2005 as its first step towards an invitation to join the alliance.
Oneworld Managing Partner John McCulloch said: Japan Airlines would be an ideal fit with oneworld, as we have said often in the past. It is a high class carrier, with an excellent reputation for its customer service and management and an enviable network that complements those of our existing members.
We are very pleased that it has recognised the value that membership of Oneworld offers and look forward to working with Japan Airlines to complete the agreements, procedures and processes that are necessary before we can issue a formal invitation to join.
American Airlines will be supporting JAL through these tasks, as its prime Oneworld sponsor, assisted by Cathay Pacific.
JAL would expand Oneworld`s existing network by around 10 per cent, adding add 68 destinations – 56 of them in Japan and five in China. It would add one territory – Guam. oneworld`s existing members currently serve 134 countries and 599 destinations. With JAL, Royal Jordanian and Malev, the oneworld map would extend to 686 destinations in 140 countries and territories.
JAL currently has extensive bilateral agreements with Oneworld partners American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, LAN and Qantas.
Five of Oneworld`s existing partners operate to and from Japan – American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair and Qantas – carrying some four million passengers last year on a combined schedule of almost 200 round trips a week. These link Tokyo Narita, Osaka Kansai, Nagoya Centrair, Fukuoka and Sapporo Chitose with direct flights to 13 destinations, including oneworld hubs Chicago O`Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Helsinki, Hong Kong, London Heathrow, Los Angeles, Melbourne, New York JFK and Sydney.
Japan Airlines serves Oneworld hubs Chicago O`Hare, Hong Kong, London Heathrow, Los Angeles, New York JFK, Singapore and Sydney.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
