airberlin to be part of oneworld from March 20, 2012

airberlin will become a full member of oneworld with effect from Tuesday, March 20, 2012, adding Europe's sixth largest carrier to the premier global airline alliance. Austrian airline NIKI, also a member of the airberlin group, will join oneworld at the same time as an
affiliate member.

airberlin received its green light to board oneworld after successfully completing a thorough review of its readiness conducted by British Airways, which is sponsoring its entry into the alliance, with the oneworld central team.

So from March 20, 2012, it will be offering oneworld's full range of services - and substantially expand the alliance's network in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, and throughout South and Central Europe. It will add almost 70 destinations to the alliance's map, extending oneworld's global coverage to some 840 destinations in 150 countries, served by more than 9,000 departures a day operated by a combined fleet of some 2,500 aircraft, carrying nearly 300 million passengers a year, with annual revenues of almost US$ 100 billion.

Joining oneworld will strengthen airberlin's competitiveness, enabling it to offer customers an unrivalled alliance global network served by partners including some of the best and biggest airlines in the world. 
It will become part of oneworld three months before it moves into the new Brandenburg airport at its Berlin home, which will open on June 3 with an eventual capacity for 27-million passengers a year. airberlin and its alliance partners will be co-located at Europe's newest hub, sharing lounges and many other facilities, to offer customers there the smoothest of connections.

oneworld CEO Bruce Ashby said, "airberlin makes an ideal oneworld partner. It has an excellent reputation for customer service - right in line with oneworld's focus on quality. oneworld already features five of Europe's best airlines. Adding the continent's sixth biggest carrier and the second largest airline based in the continent's biggest economy will greatly enhance our coverage throughout this region and, with the other airlines joining us this year, position oneworld more strongly still as the alliance of choice, particularly for global business travellers."

airberlin CEO Hartmut Mehdorn added, "Becoming a member of oneworld is one of the most significant departures so far for airberlin. 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, while enabling us also to tap into all the financial benefits that come from being part of a global alliance, through additional passenger feed and participation in various efficiency programmes. We are very pleased and proud to be lining up to join what is clearly the world's top quality airline grouping on March 20."

When airberlin joins oneworld on March 20, members of its topbonus frequent flyer programme will be able to earn and redeem mileage awards on all oneworld partners - American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN Airlines, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines and almost 20 affiliated airlines.

Also from March 20, the 120-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 airberlin and NIKI.

airberlin's network - serving more than 160 destinations in 40 countries - will be covered by oneworld's full and extensive range of alliance fares and sales products from April 1, 2012.

Currently all oneworld's active member airlines serve Germany, flying to a total of seven gateways in there.  airberlin will add another 18 destinations in its home country.

Its alliance implementation programme has represented one of the most extensive projects in its 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 airberlin and the alliance's existing members, to ensure they are ready to provide oneworld's customer services and benefits across the expanded alliance from March 20.

Since accepting an invitation to join the alliance in July 2010, airberlin has implemented code-sharing with seven established oneworld partners - American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Malev Hungarian Airlines, S7 and Royal Jordanian.

Posted in: Aircraft