aword from oneworld: November 2007

22 de novembro de 2007

Five more airports to join oneworld network, in Europe, Japan and USA: Another five destinations are lining up to join the network served by oneworld®  member airlines - three in Europe and one each in Asia and North America.

Salamanca will become the alliance's 37th destination in Spain when affiliate Iberia Regional Air Nostrum links the city to its Barcelona hub from early next year. Located in Western Spain, Salamanca is home of one of the world's oldest universities, dating back to 1218, and regarded as one of Europe's most spectacular Renaissance cities.

In the USA, Florida's capital city Tallahassee is to join the oneworld network, with affiliate American Eagle, the regional sister of American Airlines, launching services to the city from Miami from 2 March. It will serve the new route twice-daily initially, using 44-seat Embraer 140s.

Poznan will be oneworld's fourth gateway in Poland from 30 March, with the launch of British Airways flights daily to and from London Gatwick. It is one of the oldest cities in the country, with an impressive cathedral.

Turkey will also see a fourth airport joining the alliance map, with BA flying to Antalya, also from London Gatwick, three times a week from 10 April. Gateway to the Turkish Riviera, it is on the country's south west Mediterranean coast.

In Asia, Japan Airlines will serve the new Mount Fuji Shizuoka Airport when it opens in early 2009. It will serve the gateway, which will be the alliance's 46th destination in Japan, initially from Fukuoka daily and Sapporo three times a week. The Shizuoka region has a population of almost 4 million. Renowned for its natural beauty, it is gateway to the iconic Mount Fuji and a centre for agriculture and fishing. The airport - which has yet to be given an IATA three-letter code - is located conveniently between the region's two main cities, Shizuoka and Hamamatsu.

American to open service to Moscow: American Airlines is to add Moscow to its network with the launch of non-stops from its Chicago O'Hare from 2 June, with an initial six two-class Boeing 767-300s a week. It will serve the Russian capital's Domodedovo airport, which is already used by oneworld partners British Airways, Iberia and Royal Jordanian, with Japan Air Lines moving its Moscow operations there in December. Finnair and Malév Hungarian Airlines continue to use the city's other airport, Sheremetyevo.

JAL doubles in-flight entertainment choice: Japan Airlines is to offer twice as much choice in in-flight entertainment from next month, when it will start increasing the number of movie, music, video and game channels it offers from the current 57 to 130, all "on demand". The selection of movies will rise from 14 to 35, including Hollywood blockbusters, Japanese movies and, depending on route, offerings from Europe, China and India. Audio channels will be doubled to 50, and game options tripled to 30. The MAGIC-III IFE system is installed in all seats on the airline's Boeing 777-200ERs, 777-300ERs and 767-300ERs used on routes serving London, Frankfurt, Paris, Southeast Asia, and China.

oneworld in brief: oneworld brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business - American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Qantas and Royal Jordanian, plus some 20 affiliates. China's Dragonair joined as an affiliate on 1 November.

The alliance enables its members to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own. These include a broader route network, opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles and points across the combined oneworld network and more airport lounges. oneworld is the only alliance to enable passengers to fly throughout its network, on any combination of carriers, using just electronic tickets.

oneworld was voted the World's Leading Airline Alliance for the fourth year running in the 2006 World Travel Awards, based on votes cast by some 170.000 travel professionals, including more than 110.000 travel agents in 200 countries.