Oneworld Eyeing Indian Carrier To Join Their Alliance

Monday, 2nd June 2014 at 04:42am

All three major airline alliances in the world have one thing in common in their rosters of member airlines�"a carrier from India, the world's second most populous nation.

But it is about to change this year. Air India, the state-owned flag carrier is scheduled to get inducted to Star Alliance in July after years of delay. The airline first applied for membership in Star Alliance back in 2010, but was abruptly suspended after it failed to meet pertinent requirements.

As of late, Oneworld is showing interest in taking in at least one airline from India to join in their alliance. Oneworld is currently the world's third biggest airline alliance after Star Alliance and SkyTeam, by any measure.

Oneworld big boss, Bruce Ashby, was quoted as saying that they are looking at the possibility of inviting an Indian airline to apply for membership. He clarified, however, that at the moment they don't have ongoing talks involving any Indian carrier. But he disclosed that Oneworld is actually the largest operator in the subcontinent with the presence of British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, and SriLankan Airlines serving the country.

In July this year, Air India will be officially inducted to the Star Alliance roster of members, becoming the first carrier from India to join a global alliance but the second airline to do so in the region after the official induction of SriLankan Airlines to Oneworld last May.

Oneworld has grown today into a strong 15-member alliance including airlines from five major continents�"North and South America, Europe, Asia and Oceania.

Today, Oneworld has a combined network of 15 full-member and 30 affiliate-member airlines flying to over 990 airport destinations across 152 countries. Together, they operate more than 14,000 flights a day and carry over 500 million passengers annually.

The current roster of Oneworld members includes the four founding airlines�"American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas. Other members include Finnair, Airberlin, LAN Airlines, Japan Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, Royal Jordanian, Iberia, S7 Airlines, Qatar Airways, SriLankan Airlines and TAM Airlines. Affiliate units of the member airlines automatically become part of the network as well, as affiliate members.

Oneworld has a combined fleet of more than 3,320 aircraft, making it the third biggest behind SkyTeam and Star Alliance. It was founded in February 1, 1999 and the second global airline alliance to be formed. Its headquarters are presently located in New York City, NY, USA.

By: Pete Lee.