JAL: Air Berlin to join oneworld alliance
28-Jul-2010 Air Berlin is to join oneworld®, adding Europe's fifth largest airline and Germany's second biggest carrier to the world's leading quality airline alliance of which Japan Airlines (JAL) is a member. Air Berlin group member Austria's NIKI will become an affiliate member of the alliance.
A memorandum of understanding between Air Berlin and oneworld was completed in the airline's Berlin home city yesterday. It will be followed by a formal alliance membership agreement soon, and the airline can be expected to start flying as part of oneworld in early 2012 - just weeks before the opening of the new Berlin Brandenburg International Airport which is being built as a major new hub for Europe.
As a major player in the European air travel market, Air Berlin served a total of 160 destinations in some 40 countries, operating almost 600 daily departures in 2009. From Frankfurt alone, to which Japan Airlines operates a daily flight from its hub in Tokyo (Narita), Air Berlin flies to Hamburg and Berlin in Germany, Alicante, Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza and Jerez in Spain, Catania and Naples in Italy, Pri&scarontina in Serbia, as well as the Austrian capital of Vienna. It will add almost 75 gateways to the oneworld map and expand the alliance's coverage to almost 900 destinations in nearly 150 countries.
Air Berlin Chief Executive Joachim Hunold said: "Joining a global alliance is the logical next step in Air Berlin's development. We are very pleased and proud to be lining up to join what is clearly the world's top quality airline grouping. Becoming part of oneworld would be one of the most significant departures so far for our airline, enabling us to offer our customers a truly global network served by partners who include some of the best and biggest airlines in the world. We look forward to completing all joining requirements as soon as possible."
Willie Walsh, Chief Executive of British Airways, oneworld's sponsor of Air Berlin, said: "Air Berlin will make an ideal oneworld partner. It has an excellent reputation for customer service - right in line with oneworld's focus on quality above quantity in terms of membership. Its network is one of the best in Central Europe, expanding the alliance's coverage of this region markedly. British Airways is delighted to be supporting Air Berlin's addition to oneworld by acting as its sponsor into the alliance - and we look forward to establishing our bilateral cooperation."
The addition of Air Berlin as a member elect is the latest significant step in what is turning into a breakthrough year for oneworld as it builds further on its position as the world's premier airline alliance, expanding its unrivalled route network still further and enabling it to offer even more services and benefits to customers.