oneworld adds 5-star Middle East carrier.
Qatar Airways will become the first of the three major Gulf carriers to join a global airline alliance, with oneworld just confirming its election as a member designate at a ceremony in New York.
The Doha-based carrier, rated by Skytrax as Airline of the Year for the past two years, will join fellow Middle Eastern carrier Royal Jordanian in the oneworld alliance, which became a member of the alliance five years ago.
The other major Gulf carriers, Emirates and Etihad Airways, are yet to partner with any of the three alliances – oneworld, Star Alliance or SkyTeam.
Sponsoring Qatar Airways’ membership to oneworld is British Airways, who will mentor the airline through its alliance implementation program.
In making the decision to align with oneworld, QR ceo Akbar Al Baker acknowledged the increasinging importance of alliances, saying the airline “has carefully reviewed its strategic options and it is very clear that joining oneworld is by far the best way forward for us.”
“Adding Qatar Airways will significantly improve our connectivity between many of the destinations that are most important to those customers, so today’s agreement with Qatar Airways will enable us to offer even more value,” American Airlines chairman and chief executive Tom Horton said.
Through its addition, oneworld will expand its network to 15 new destinations in three countries – Iran, Rwanda and the Seychelles – and grow the group’s global coverage to 856 destinations in 159 countries.
The implementation of QR into oneworld expected to take between 12 and 18 months.
Further details in today’s Travel Daily.