This comes as oneworld undergoes the biggest expansion programme in its history.
Readers of Premier Traveler magazine have voted oneworld “Best Airline Alliance” in the magazine’s Best of 2013 readers’ survey.
This latest honour gives oneworld an unprecedented virtual clean sweep of premier “best alliance” titles, with seven “best alliance” trophies presented in the past year in the top international airline industry consumer award schemes.
Already in the past year, oneworld has been named best airline alliance in:
· The 2013 World Airline Awards, staged by the Skytrax airline quality ratings agency.
· Business Traveller’s 2013 Awards.
· 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 Premier Traveler award will be presented at a ceremony in Los Angeles in early December, when details of individual airline winners will be announced. It is the first time that oneworld has gained the magazine’s “best alliance” award.
oneworld CEO Bruce Ashby said: “oneworld aims to be the first choice airline alliance for frequent international travelers, just the kind of people who read Premier Traveler magazine, so we are delighted that they have given oneworld first place billing in their Best of 2013 survey, giving oneworld a clean sweep of all the major ‘best alliance’ titles over the past year. We are honoured.”
This latest award comes just days after oneworld added Qatar Airways as its latest member airline – and the only major Gulf carrier to join any of the global airline alliances, making oneworld the leading alliance in the Middle East, one of the world’s fastest growing regions for air travel demand.
This forms a cornerstone of oneworld’s biggest yet expansion, with:
· The addition of airberlin, the second largest airline in Europe’s biggest economy and the seventh largest carrier in Europe, in March 2012.
· The switch of bmi to oneworld in summer 2012 as part of its integration into British Airways, consolidating oneworld’s lead at London Heathrow, gateway to the world’s leading business city.
· 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 addition of LAN Colombia, the second largest airline in South America’s second biggest economy, on 1 October and TAM, the leading airline in Brazil, Latin America’s biggest economy, from 31 March 2014. This brings all passenger airlines in the LATAM Airlines Group into oneworld, building on its position as the leading 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.
oneworld’s other established member airlines comprise American Airlines, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Qantas, Royal Jordanian and S7 Airlines, and around 30 affiliates.
With its recruits, oneworld will:
· Serve almost a thousand airports in more than 150 countries, with 14,000 daily departures.
· Carry 475 million passengers a year on a combined fleet of some 3,300 aircraft.
· Generate US$ 140 billion annual revenues.
oneworld member airlines work together to deliver consistently a superior, seamless travel experience, with special privileges and rewards for frequent flyers, including earning and redeeming miles and points across the entire alliance network. Top tier cardholders (Emerald and Sapphire) enjoy access to more than 550 airport lounges. The most regular travellers (Emerald) can also use fast track security lanes at select airports and extra baggage allowances.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
