Indian domestic network offered by round-the-world fare for first time with Kingfisher Airlines joining oneworld's Global Explorer

30 maggio 2009

A domestic network in India is to be offered by a round-the-world fare for the first time with India's market-leading airline Kingfisher Airlines participating from Monday (1 June) in Global Explorer, which offers flights on all members of the oneworld® alliance and some selected other airlines. 

Global Explorer already includes a number of airlines with no other oneworld links - Aer Lingus, Air Pacific, Alaska Airlines and its Horizon Airlines sister, and Gulf Air.  Flights carrying the Qantas code but operated by Air Tahiti Nui, Jetstar, South African Airways and Vietnam Airlines are included too. 

The fare also covers all routes offered by oneworld's existing member airlines - American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Qantas and Royal Jordanian and some 20 affiliated carriers, including LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador, LAN Peru, China's Dragonair and South Africa's Comair.  Mexicana and its affiliate MexicanaClick also participate, ahead of joining oneworld later in 2009.

These airlines serve five points in India - but the addition of Kingfisher Airlines' Indian domestic network expands that to a further 62 gateways across the country.

Russia's leading domestic carrier S7 Airlines - whose election on board oneworld as a member designate was announced earlier this week - will also be included in Global Explorer from 1 June, expanding the fare's coverage considerably in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, adding 54 cities and eight countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). 

With the addition of Kingfisher Airlines and S7 Airlines from Monday, Global Explorer now covers flights serving a total of more than 850 destinations in some 150 countries offered by more than 20 airlines and some 20 affiliates. 

No other round-the-world fare offers more extensive coverage of North America, South America, Australasian or, now, India, with oneworld the only alliance featuring member airlines based in South America, Australia or Asia's Middle East, and Kingfisher Airlines now the only Indian airline participating in a fare like Global Explorer.

Global Explorer offers simple, flexible, and great value round-the-world travel for trips of up to one year long.  Four versions are available.   For details, see below.

It is one of two round-the-world fares offered by oneworld.  Its other round-the-world fare is oneworld Explorer.  This includes travel on the alliance's existing member airlines and affiliates only.  Uniquely, prices are based on the number of continents visited, rather than on the distance flown.  It is the only round-the-world fare that can be bought on-line.

oneworld offers a wider range of alliance fares than any of its competitors.   For those who don't want to fly all around the world, these include Circle fares for traveling through several continents without actually circumnavigating the globe and Visit passes for each continent.

About Global Explorer

Four versions of Global Explorer are available.  Tiers 1, 2 and 4 are for travel only in Economy Class, but Tier 3 can be used also in First or Business.  Not all tiers are available from all countries.

Livello

Max. trip length

Stopovers included

Sample itinerary

Sample lead-in prices for travel from

Australia

UK

USA

India

1

26.000 miglia

Minimum 3, maximum 5.  No more than 2 within any one region.

Melbourne - Hong Kong - London - Madrid - Chicago - Los Angeles - Melbourne

A$3,199

GBP1,349

Not available for sale from USA

INR131,695

2

29.000 miglia

Minimum 3, maximum 10.  No more than 3 within any one region.

London - New York - Los Angeles - Sydney - Perth - Johannesburg - London

A$3,699

GBP1,549

US$4,499

INR155,870

3

34.000 miglia

Minimum 3, maximum 15.  No more than 4 within any one region.

Hong Kong - Sydney - Nadi (Fiji) - Honolulu - Los Angeles - Santiago (Chile) - Buenos Aires - London - Bahrain - Mumbai - Bangkok - Hong Kong

A$4,299

GBP1,909

US$5,199

INR179,245

4

39.000 miglia

Minimum 3, maximum 15.  No more than 4 within any one region.

Mexico City - Buenos Aires - Lima - Santiago (Chile) - Madrid - Paris - Budapest - London - Hong Kong - Sydney - Los Angeles - Miami - Mexico City

A$4,999

GBP2,149

US$6,099

INR209,870

For full information, sample fares from all countries, bookings arrangements, rules and conditions, see www.oneworld.com/ow/air-travel-options/round-the-world-fares/global-explorer or contact any participating airline or your local travel agent.

For full information, sample fares from all countries, bookings arrangements, rules and conditions for oneworld's complete range of fares, see www.oneworld.com/ow/air-travel-options or contact any participating airline or your local travel agent.

About Kingfisher Airlines

Kingfisher Airlines is India's only five star airline, as rated by Skytrax, the independent airline quality research organisation.  Besides being the first and only airline in India to offer in-flight entertainment on every seat, Kingfisher Airlines offers Live TV with 16 channels.  It has received numerous awards for innovation, customer responsiveness and was voted the "Best New Airline of the Year", within months of its launch. 

Kingfisher Airlines covers all segments of air travel - from low fares to premium service.  It offers the most flights by any single airline network in India - 425 departures a day - connecting 70 cities with a fleet of 75 modern aircraft.

The airline is a part of the UB Group - one of India's largest conglomerates with diverse interests and a global presence. The UB Group is also the largest Indian alcoholic beverages (beer and spirits) company and the third largest drinks group in the world.

With oneworld's member airlines already serving five gateways in India - Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai - the destinations in the country at Kingfisher will add to Global Explorer include: Agatti Island, Agartala, Ahmedabad, Aizawl, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Bagdogra, Belgaum, Bhavnagar, Bhubaneswar, Bhuj, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Derhadun, Dharamsala, Dibrugarh, Dimapur, Goa, Guwahati, Hubli, Imphal, Indore, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Jammu, Jamshedpur, Jodhpur, Jorhat, Kandla, Kochi, Kolhapur, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Kuly, Latur, Ley, Lilabari, Lucknow, Madurai, Mangalore, Nagpur, Nanded, Naski, Patna, Port Blair, Pune, Raipur, Rajahmundry, Ranchi, Sholapur, Silchar, Simla, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapura, Tiruchirapally, Tirupati, Tuticorin, Udaipur, Vadodara, Varanasi, Vijayawada and Vishakhapatnam.

About S7 Airlines

S7 Airlines is Russia's leading airline in terms of domestic passenger carryings, customer service quality and innovation.   It was the first carrier in the country to convert to an all Western-built Airbus and Boeing fleet, the first to adopt full electronic ticketing and the first to take reservations and sell tickets on-line.  It holds the internationally recognised IOSA (International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit) certification, renewed in October 2008.

Its main hub Moscow Domodedevo is served also by oneworld members American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Japan Airlines and Royal Jordanian.  The alliance's member airlines serve a further three points in Russia - Moscow Sheremetyevo, St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg.  

S7 will add eight new countries to Global Explorer - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan - and 55 new destinations, including 36 additional points in Russia.  They include:

  • In Russia - Adler/Sochi, Anapa, Astrakhan, Barnaul, Bratsk, Chelyabinsk, Chita, Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Kemerovo, Khabarovsk, Krasnodar, Krasnovarsk, Nadym, Nizhnevartovsk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Norilsk, Novokuznetsk, Novosibirsk, Novyjurengoj, Omsk, Perm, Petropavlovsk/Kamchatsky, Rostov, Samara, Surgut, Tomsk, Tyumen, Ufa, Ulan/Ude, Vladikavkaz, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Yakutsk and Yuzhno/Sakhalinsk.
  • In Armenia - Gyoumri and Yerevan.
  • In Azerbaijan - Baku.
  • In Bulgaria - Bourgas.
  • In China - Urumqi.
  • In Kazakhstan - Almaty, Pavlodar and Ust Kamenogorsk.
  • In Kyrgyzstan - Bishkek and Osh,
  • In Moldova - Kishinev.
  • In Montenegro - Tivat.
  • In Tajikistan - Dushanbe and Khudzhand.
  • In Ukraine - Simferopol.
  • In Uzbekistan - Fergana, Tashkent and Urgench.

About oneworld

oneworld brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business - American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Qantas and Royal Jordanian, and around 20 affiliates including American Eagle, Dragonair, LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador and LAN Peru.  Mexicana and its affiliate Click Mexicana will join the alliance in 2009, and S7 Airlines in 2010. 

Between them, these airlines:

  • Serve almost 700 airports in nearly 150 countries, with more than 9.000 daily departures.
  • Offer nearly 550 airport lounges for premium customers.
  • Carry some 320 million passengers a year.
  • Employ 250.000 people.
  • Operate almost 2.500 aircraft.
  • Generate more than US$100 billion annual revenues.

It is the only alliance with any airlines based in Australia, South America or Asia's Middle East.

The alliance enables its members to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own.  These include a broader route network, opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles and points across the combined oneworld network and more airport lounges.