aword from oneworld: July 2003

SCHEDULES BEING REBUILT AFTER SARS CRISIS AND IRAQ WAR: oneworld™ member airlines have been rebuilding their schedules after suspensions implemented in response to falling demand in the build up to the Iraq war and during the SARS virus crisis.

Cathay Pacific is flying 71 per cent of the originally planned timetable this month, 90 per cent in August, and 100 per cent from September. Director and Chief Operating Officer Philip Chen said: "Hong Kong getting a clean bill of heath is great news and heralds life in Hong Kong fully returning to normal. SARS in many ways showed just how important air travel is to the flow of business and Hong Kong's economy. With the help of initiatives launched by Cathay Pacific and the travel industry we will do our part to rebuild the tourism industry and enhance Hong Kong as Asia's leading aviation hub."

American Airlines has added back more than 460 flights a week, serving a total of 50 plus cities, reflecting increased demand. British Airways has resumed services to all points served in the Middle East, restored its Hong Kong flights to twice daily and started to flying again to Nairobi. Qantas is increasing services to the USA from the end June from 25 to 28 services a week with another two frequencies added from early August. Finnair is rebuilding frequencies to its destinations in the Far East.

CODE-SHARING EXTENDED TO AA-BA AND CX-QF: Code-sharing is being extended across more oneworld partner airlines, making it easier still for passengers to connect between their flights. There are now 20 such agreements between the eight alliance members, out of a potential 28 pairings.

American Airlines and British Airways are expected to announce soon a date for the launch of their code-sharing on routes "behind and beyond" their US and UK hubs and on British regional transatlantic services, making it even easier for passengers to connect between the two airlines' services. AA intends to place its code on British Airways flights beyond American's UK gateways to up to 110 destinations in the UK, continental Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, and on BA's service between New York JFK and Manchester. The UK carrier's marketing prefix will be placed on American flights beyond BA's US gateways to as many as 187 points within the US and to Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America, and on AA flights between Chicago and Glasgow and Manchester. Transatlantic services to and from London are not covered.

Qantas is to place its code on Cathay Pacific flights between the latter's Hong Kong base and Rome from 9 September.

TASHKENT, LONDON CITY, KRAKOW AND TWO ARGENTINE CITIES JOIN: oneworld has extended its lead as the world's most international airline alliance with Uzbekistan becoming the 136th territory served by its airlines. British Mediterranean, which flies as a franchisee of British Airways, is now operating to Tashkent, capital of the republic which lies to the north of the Himalayas. oneworld already serves more territories than any of its competitors.

London City has become the third of the UK capital's airports linked to the oneworld network with affiliate British Airways CitiExpress flying RJ100 regional jets between the airport, the closest to the centre of the UK capital, and Frankfurt, Glasgow and Paris CDG.

British Airways mainline has brought Krakow, in Poland, on-line with three flights a week to and from London Gatwick.

Rosario and Bariloche have joined the oneworld network through new LanChile flights, linking the Argentinian destinations with its Santiago hub. It is flying daily to Rosario, one of the country's main international trading centres, with its Santa Fe province a major industrial and farming area. It will serve the mountain and ski resort of Bariloche twice daily from 7 August. LanChile also serves the Argentine cities of Buenos Aires, Mendoza and Cordoba.

oneworld MEMBERS OFFER BEST LOUNGES, SURVEY INDICATES: oneworld members offer the best airline lounges of any of the world's global airline alliances, a massive worldwide survey indicates. Cathay Pacific's The Wing, at its Hong Kong home hub, was overall runner-up in the review, with Qantas' new Qantas Club at its Sydney base voted third. British Airways was sixth. No airline from any of the other global alliances was ranked higher than these three oneworld members. The Airline Lounge of the Year survey was conducted by Skytrax. It claims to be the world's largest survey of airline lounges, attracting more than 900.000 eligible nominations this year during a six-month period.

THE WORLD'S ONLY SUPERSONIC ALLIANCE – UNTIL 24 OCTOBER: British Airways is now the only supersonic airline in the world – which makes oneworld the only supersonic alliance. Air France, which had been the only other operator of Concorde, has now retired its fleet of the delta-winged aircraft. British Airways will continue supersonic services until 24 October, when it too will retire the aircraft with manufacturer Airbus saying it will no longer support the Concorde programme and continued supersonic services no longer viable. For latest Concorde news, see ba.com

oneworld's NEWS WEBSITE UPGRADED: oneworld's media website has been upgraded and renamed "news and information", better reflecting its overall role as the alliance's prime source of news and general information not just for journalists but for customers and the public worldwide too. The address remains the same - www.oneworld.com/pressroom A full search facility has been introduced, to make it easier for surfers to find what, and links provided giving direct access to each member airline's own on-line pressroom, where technically possible.

QANTAS LAUNCHES NEW DOMESTIC FARE STRUCTURE: Qantas has overhauled its domestic air fares for travel from 1 July. Executive General Manager Sales and Marketing John Borghetti said the new fares would provide greater choice and more flexibility for customers. With the five new fare types replacing the existing 11, they include one-way fares that can be mixed and matched in any combination, the end of "minimum stay" and "Saturday night stay away" restrictions, and the ability to make itinerary changes right up to the day before travel for all fares, and until departure for flexible fares.

BA MAKES MOSCOW MOVE: British Airways has completed the transfer of its Moscow operations to the Russian capital's Domodedovo airport, where it says passengers can expect better service, comfort, facilities and ground connections to and from the city centre. The airline connects Moscow with London Heathrow twice daily.

PALMA IS AER LINGUS' LATEST DESTINATION: Aer Lingus has added another destination in Spain to its network with the launch of direct scheduled services three times a week to Palma.

GB AIRWAYS TO BRING THREE MORE DESTINATIONS ON LINE: Fuerteventura and Tenerife North in the Canary Islands and Papthos, on Cyprus, will join the oneworld network later this year with new services launched by affiliate member GB Airways, a British Airways franchisee.

FINNAIR CONFIRMS SHANGHAI LAUNCH AND MIAMI START: Finnair has confirmed it will launch flights to Shanghai from the beginning of September, with an initial three services a week. It will be the first oneworld carrier to serve the Chinese city. The Nordic carrier is also to fly to Miami this winter with two MD11 services a week. At Helsinki, the flight will offer excellent connections to and from Scandinavia and Russia, while at Florida passengers will be able to transfer with ease to and from oneworld partner American Airlines' Caribbean and Central and South American network.

IBERIA REGIONAL STARTS EDINBURGH, FARO AND SARDINIA SERVICES: oneworld affiliate Air Nostrum, which flies as Iberia Regional, is launching new flights from Madrid to Edinburgh daily, Faro five times a week and Olbia, in Sardinia, weekly from 25 July, using its Bombardier CRJ200 regional jets.

AMERICAN AND EAGLE CONSOLIDATE LAX FLIGHTS AT TERMINAL 4: American Airlines and its regional affiliate American Eagle have consolidated all of their flying at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in the recently renovated Terminal 4, increasing customer convenience.

IBERIA OPENS NEW LOUNGE AT CARACAS: Iberia has opened a new VIP lounge at Caracas airport, available for the airline's First and Business class passengers, and Ruby and Sapphire frequent flyer card holders of any oneworld airline. The 180 square-metre room features non-smoking and smoking areas, telephones, a large working space with PC booths and free internet access, jacks for laptops, armchairs, television rooms, restrooms, and a bar. Besides Iberia, Caracas is on the networks of American Airlines, British Airways and LanChile.

BA ENDS CENTRAL LONDON CHECK-IN: British Airways is closing its check-in facility in Central London, at Paddington railway station, with effect from 31 July. A thorough review of the service indicated that insufficient passengers used the service – which enables them to check-in themselves and their baggage for a flight from Heathrow before boarding the Heathrow Express train to the airport – to justify the cost of maintaining it.

IBERIA EXTENDS E-TICKETING TO USA, BRAZIL AND STOCKHOLM: Iberia has extended the use of its e-tickets to flights from Spain to New York, Chicago and Miami, and to its Brazilian and Stockholm flights. Passengers could already use them on services to Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and on virtually all its domestic routes. And Copenhagen

oneworld IN BRIEF: oneworld brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business – American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas, Iberia, Cathay Pacific, LanChile, Finnair and Aer Lingus - enabling them to offer their customers more services and benefits than any of them can can provide on its own. This includes a broader route network, opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles and points across the combined oneworld network and more airport lounges. Together, its members serve more countries than any other alliance – 136 territories and more than 550 destinations - and oneworld offers more alliance fare products, serving more markets, than all its competitors together. It was named the world's Best Airline Alliance by some of the world's most frequent flyers at the 2002 Business Traveller Awards, believed to be the first award for this sector of the travel industry. Its members' 1.900 aircraft operate some 8.500 flights a day.

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