Oneworld on an expansive roll

[Mercutio]

Oneworld on an expansive roll

Oneworld is by far the most awarded alliance and the only one of the three global airline alliances to turn a collective profit. However it has always lagged Star in size and even fallen to third place behind stitched-together Skyteam (Skyteam have always been the least convincing....) owing to Oneworld's more selective entry criteria. However Oneworld's bosses have decided to manage an expansion of the alliance from 8 members to 12 members. By mid 2007 it will serve 700 destinations in 150 countries. In April next year Aer Lingus will leave the alliance and JAL, Malev Hungarian Airlines, and Royal Jordanian will join.

New strength in E/SE Asia
Dragonair, recently aquired by Cathay Pacific, will join Oneworld as a Cathay subsidiary. Cathay was always one of the world's best players in the longhaul and SE Asia market but critically lacked penetration in mainland China owing to political reasons (it's 40% owned by British Swire Group and was perceived by the Chinese authorities as a foreign airline). However Cathay's recent aquisition of Dragonair, which almost monopolises Hong Kong's mainland China traffic, and also China's gradual relaxation of restrictions on Cathay, have given Cathay the coverage of China that it has coveted for so long. A combined Cathay/Dragonair will rival Japanese giants JAL and ANA as the largest player in E/SE Asia. And with JAL itself joining the alliance Oneworld will have excellent coverage in E/SE Asia and the region's two most economically important cities (Tokyo and Hong Kong) as its' major hubs.

Expansion in Latin America
LAN Ecuador and LAN Argentina will join LAN Peru as the latest subsidiaries of the Chile-based LAN group. American Airlines (the world's largest airline in terms of fleet size and total passenger numbers) and Spain's Iberia already have a very extensive Latin American coverage from Europe and America.

Smaller players to open new markets and add to existing strengths
Malev and Jordanian are relatively small players but they will extend the alliance's coverage of central Europe and the Middle East. This will plug some gaps and add to the alliance's existing strengths in America and the Atlantic (BA and AA), Europe (BA, Finnair, Iberia, and now Malev), and to Australasia (Qantas and to a lesser extent BA and Cathay).


Oneworld's full members in 2007:
- American Airlines + 6 x subsidiaries (world's largest airline by total passengers and fleet size)
- British Airways + 6 x subsidiaries (world's largest Trans-Atlantic carrier, world's largest operating profits, and Skytrax best airline 2006)
- Cathay Pacific + Dragonair (Cathay won Skytrax best airline 2005)
- Japan Airlines + 5 x subsidiaries (Asia-Pacific's largest airline)
- Qantas + 2 x subsidiaries (Skytrax best airline runner up in 2005 and 2006)
- Finnair (strong to northern Europe and E/SE Asia)
- Iberia + subsidiary (strong to Latin America)
- Malev Hungarian
- Royal Jordanian
- LAN (LAN Chile, LAN Peru, LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador)

[CXRules]

Here's an interesting headline, but I think it's wrong. No, the new Varig is being kicked out of Star but not joining oneworld.

http://www.traveldailynews.com/new.asp? ... gory_id=53

Here is the same article with the right headline:

http://news.cheapflights.co.uk/flights/ ... o_bec.html

[arpa]

Here's an interesting headline, but I think it's wrong. No, the new Varig is being kicked out of Star but not joining oneworld.

I wonder where did they get that from? I seriously doubt there could be a slightest chance... After all, the same criteria that made VRG to be kicked out of Star Alliance will not be met for oneworld either. Not to mention the excellent OW's coverage of the region with LAN and Iberia. Besides, who said VRG would want to join *any* alliance? For a cost concious airline it often prooves more burdensome than profitable...

On the other hand, shame on Star for leaving the entire South America without any local partner and with relatively poor access anyway. Actually, an entire Latin America (after Mexicana stepped out a few years back). That's sth i won't chew on so easily..

[jet2uk]

perhaps if varig were to oneday join another airline alliance, skyteam would be the best option? considering tap air portugal's current links to brazil, varig could act as a feeder to european routes and serve europeans heading out into south america from brazil

[arpa]

First of all, TAP is Star Alliance.
Secondly, TAP's coverage of Brazil is not as good as one might expect - 6 destinations only (Brasilia not included), but -- yep, it's more than LH or LX anyway.
It still makes more sense to have new Varig (VRG) in Star than out of it, imho, at least from the alliance point of view.