Kingfisher Out of OneWorld Alliance

Tuesday, 11th June 2013 at 01:41am

A top official from the global airline alliance OneWorld confirmed early this week that Kingfisher is not going to be inducted into the grouping as its new member, adding that they don't have any ongoing negotiations, at present, with any Indian airlines.

Kingfisher is no longer in operation since it lost its license in September last year when the Indian government suspended it. It subsequently failed to renew its operations permit when it expired at the end of December 2012.

The doomed airline was slated to be inducted this year as a new member of oneworld.

Tom Horton, oneworld chairman, also said that the alliance has no immediate plans to invite any airlines from India as of the moment. Horton was speaking on the sidelines of IATA's Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit held in Cape Town, South Africa.

Horton, also American Airline's CEO, added that the oneworld presence in India is already taken up by Qatar Airways and Sri Lankan Airlines, two of its soon-to-be inducted members. Both QA and Sri Lankan Airlines are scheduled for induction to the alliance in October and November respectively.

Kingfisher deferred its application to the alliance after its membership was suspended by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Its removal from IATA roster was the result of the Indian government's suspension of its license last year after a series of troubles that crippled its operations.

Oneworld currently has 10 full-member airlines plus over two dozen affiliate member airlines on its roster. Its founding members include five of the biggest airlines in the industry: American Airways, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Qantas and the now-defunct Canadian Airlines. Its full-member airlines grew over time to include Japan Airlines, Iberia, Malaysian Airlines, LAN Airlines, Finnair, Air Berlin, Royal Jordanian and S7.

All in all, member airlines fly to over 800 local and global destinations carrying almost a million passengers daily through 10,000 flights on average. Approximately, they represent 12.2% of the global seat capacity with a combined fleet of more than 2,500 aircraft.

Bruce Ashby, oneworld CEO, was quoted as saying that it has decided to abandon its plan to take in Kingfisher into its alliance until it is ready to operate again.

He further said that they will reset a new date for the Kingfisher to join the alliance if it is still interested.

By: Pete Lee.