Oneworld Takes Its Sixth 'Best Alliance' Title of The Year

Subang, 23 October 2013: Readers of Business Traveller magazine have voted oneworld Best Airline Alliance in the magazine’s 2013 readers’ poll.

This is the sixth “best alliance” honour oneworld has received in major international industry award schemes in the past year, a record for any global airline alliance – and it comes as oneworld undergoes the biggest expansion programme in its history.

Already in the past 12 months, oneworld has been named best airline alliance in:

• The 2013 World Airline Awards, staged by the Skytrax airline quality ratings agency.
• Global Traveler’s GT Tested Reader Survey 2012 Awards for the third year running.
• World Travel Awards 2012 for the 10th consecutive year.
• Australian Business Traveller 2012 for the second year running.
• The 2012 debut alliance Flight Stats On-Time Performance Awards.

The Business Traveller award – which oneworld last won in 2005 – was presented at a ceremony in London. oneworld Vice-President  Corporate Communications received the trophy on behalf of the alliance from BBC TV news anchor Fiona Bruce.

oneworld members also flew high in the individual airline categories of the Business Traveller 2013 awards.

British Airways took the overall top title as Best Airline, with Qatar Airways, which will join oneworld on 30 October, and Cathay Pacific also placed in the top five.

British Airways also took top honours as Best Shorthaul Airline, Best First Class, Best Frequent Flyer Programme and Best Airport Lounge.  Qatar Airways took the award for Best Business Class.

The awards, widely recognised as a benchmark for excellence, are based on a vote by readers of Business Traveller magazine – which has editions for the UK, USA, Asia-Pacific, Germany, Middle East, China, Africa, Hungary, Denmark and Poland – with the results authenticated by an independent auditing company.  

This latest award comes as oneworld undergoes its biggest yet expansion, with:

• The addition of airberlin, the second largest airline in Europe’s biggest economy and the seventh largest carrier in Europe, in March 2012.
• The switch of bmi to oneworld in summer 2012 as part of its integration into British Airways, consolidating oneworld’s lead at London Heathrow, gateway to the world’s Number One business city.
• The addition of Malaysia Airlines, one of this industry’s most frequent award winners, six months ago, further strengthening oneworld’s position in South East Asia, one of the fastest growing regions for air travel demand.
• The addition of LAN Colombia, the second largest airline in South America’s second biggest economy, on 1 October and TAM, the leading airline in Brazil, Latin America’s biggest economy, from 31 March 2014.   This brings all passenger airlines in the LATAM Airlines Group into oneworld, building on its position as the leading alliance serving Latin America.
• The induction on 30 October 2013 of Qatar Airways, the only one of the “Gulf Big Three” carriers slated to join any of the global airline alliances and one of the world’s fastest growing and most highly rated airlines.  This will make oneworld the leading alliance in the Middle East, one of the world’s fastest growing regions for air travel demand.
• The introduction early next year of SriLankan Airlines, as the first airline from the Indian subcontinent to join any global alliance, which, with Qatar Airways, will make oneworld the leading alliance in the region.
• The proposed switch by US Airways from Star to oneworld as part of its planned merger with American Airlines, subject to necessary approvals.

oneworld’s other established member airlines comprise American Airlines, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Qantas, Royal Jordanian and S7 Airlines, and around 30 affiliates.  

With its recruits, oneworld will: 

• Serve almost a thousand airports in more than 150 countries, with 14,000 daily departures.
• Carry 475 million passengers a year on a combined fleet of nearly 3,300 aircraft.
• Generate US$ 140 billion annual revenues.

oneworld member airlines work together to deliver consistently a superior, seamless travel experience, with special privileges and rewards for frequent flyers, including earning and redeeming miles and points across the entire alliance network. 

-Malaysia Airlines.