Qatar Airways to join oneworld alliance

Qatar Airways is joining oneworld^®, adding one of the world’s fastest growing and most highly rated airlines to the world’s leading quality airline alliance.

Its election as a oneworld member designate was announced today at a press conference in New York – home of oneworld’s central alliance management office – with senior executives of Qatar Airways and the alliance’s established member airlines in attendance, said the airlines that was named Airline of the Year for the past two years by the Skytrax independent airline quality rating agency.

“Alliances are playing an increasingly important role in the airline industry today – and that will continue long into the future,” said Qatar Airways chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker at the press meet.

Qatar Airways has carefully reviewed its strategic options and it is very clear that joining oneworld is by far the best way forward for the airlines us as it looks to strengthen its competitive offering and give passengers what they fully deserve – more choice, he said, adding that like Qatar Airways, oneworld is also focused on quality and providing the best connections between the places most important to today’s frequent international travellers. 

The first of the three major airlines based in the Gulf to sign for any of the global airline alliances, Qatar Airways is also the second largest full service airline in the world not, until today, aligned to one of big global airline alliances, it said, adding that the Doha-based airline’s implementation into oneworld is expected to take between 12 and 18 months. 

The carrier is set to move into a brand new home in 2013 with the opening of the New Doha International Airport, designed to strengthen its position as a premium global hub with an eventual capacity for 50 million passengers a year.

As a member of oneworld, Qatar Airways will fly alongside some of the biggest and best brands in the airline business.  British Airways will serve as its sponsor in joining oneworld, supported by the central oneworld alliance team, mentoring the recruit through its alliance implementation programme.

Qatar Airways will be oneworld’s second member airline based in the Middle East, alongside Royal Jordanian, which became the first airline from the region to join any of the global alliances when it boarded oneworld in 2007.

In just 15 years of operations, Qatar Airways has built up a solid international route network flying to key business and leisure destinations worldwide – and winning countless awards for high service levels, including the Five Star accolade given by Skytrax.

Qatar Airways’ network serves 120 destinations in 70 countries in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, North and South America, Asia and Australasia, including oneworld hubs Amman, Berlin Tegel, Buenos Aires Ezeiza, Hong Kong, London Heathrow, Madrid, Melbourne, Moscow Domodedovo, New York JFK, Osaka Kansai, Sydney, Tokyo Narita, and the Kuala Lumpur home of oneworld member elect Malaysia Airlines.

Fifteen of its destinations and three countries - Iran, Rwanda and the Seychelles - will be new to the oneworld map. More significantly, Qatar Airways will substantially strengthen oneworld’s customer offering by providing superior routing alternatives across many hundreds of city pairs.  For example, passengers flying between Asia and Southern Europe or between Asia and Africa will now have convenient one-stop connections not previously available within the oneworld network.

Qatar Airways operates one of the world’s youngest and most modern fleets, currently standing at 111 Boeing and Airbus aircraft with an average age of just four years old.

Its addition will increase oneworld’s global coverage to 856 destinations in 159 countries, served by a combined fleet of 2,600 aircraft operating more than9,300 flights and carrying almost a million passengers every day (342 million a year), generating annual revenues of nearly $120 billion.

Qatar Airways already code-shares with oneworld member designate Malaysia Airlines.  It will develop bilateral links with more airlines in the alliance as it moves towards becoming a member of the group.

Two established oneworld member airlines currently serve its Doha home– British Airways from its London hub, and Royal Jordanian from its Amman base – along with member elect SriLankan, from its Colombo hub.   Opportunities for increasing the alliance’s services to Doha will be explored as Qatar Airways prepares to join.

When Qatar Airways becomes part of oneworld, its customers will gain access to the alliance’s truly global network.  The 2.2 million members of its Privilege Club frequent flyer programme will be able to earn and redeem rewards on any of oneworld’s other carriers, with top tier members able to use any of the group’s 550 plus airport lounges, and its network will be covered by oneworld’s market leading range of alliance fares. 

At the same time, the 125 million frequent flyer cardholders of oneworld’s established airlines will be able to earn and redeem rewards when flying on Qatar Airways and access Qatar Airways’ lounges.

“In Qatar Airways’ relatively short history, it has quickly established a reputation for innovation, quality and excellence in everything it does, raising standards which its industry peers have watched with envy,” Al Baker added.

Qatar Airways was launched in 1997 and quickly established itself as one of the world’s fastest growing and highest quality airlines. It boarded 15 million passengers in 2011, generating group revenues of $ 6.4 billion. 

Qatar Airways, which uses the two-letter code QR, has one of the world’s youngest fleets. It currently operates 111 aircraft, with an average age of four years, including 26 Boeing 777s, four Airbus A340-600s, 29 Airbus A330s and 44 Airbus A320 family types.  It has orders and options for more than 250 more aircraft, worth more than US$ 50 billion, for delivery over the next few years. These include 13 Airbus A380-800s, 80 Airbus A350s, 60 Boeing 787s and 80 Airbus A320neos. Qatar Airways is 50 per cent owned by the State of Qatar and 50 per cent by private shareholders.

Similarly, oneworld aims to be the first choice airline alliance for the world’s frequent international travellers. It brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business – airberlin, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Qantas, Royal Jordanian and S7 Airlines, and around 20 affiliates including Austria’s NIKI, American Eagle, Dragonair, LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador and LAN Peru. Malaysia Airlines is on track to join at around the turn of the year, with Sri Lankan to follow in 2013.  India’s Kingfisher Airlines is also a member elect. Mexicana is an inactive member of the alliance.