oneworld is the first alliance to take bookings on its website

15 luglio 2005

oneworld™ has become the first of the global alliances to enable customers to book and pay for flights on its member airlines through its alliance website.

The service, launched today, is initially available only to companies in Germany who have registered as customers for oneworld's businessflyer corporate sales product.

Assuming this market trial is a success, the alliance aims to extend the facility next to businessflyer customers in France and then potentially to other oneworld fare and sales products.

oneworld businessflyer enables small and medium sized companies in Germany to gain discounts of up to 50 per cent on the regular published rates for their business travel in return for a more regular relationship with the alliance and its airlines.

Through just one point of contact, they can select flights by the alliance's eight carriers to more than 200 of the most popular destinations worldwide for German businesses, with departures from nine German gateways - Berlin Schoenefeld or Tegel, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich or Stuttgart. In many cases, connections are available also from various other airports and railway stations across Germany. Tickets are eligible for mileage rewards and points in any of the oneworld airlines' frequent flyer programmes.

Germany is one of only two countries worldwide served by all eight partners, with a total of almost 1.700 flights a week, and direct services to 18 destinations in Europe, the Americas and Asia and the smoothest of connections from there to the 600 destinations in 135 territories served by the alliance worldwide. Last year, its airlines offered almost 12 million seats on flights to or from the country, with an overall share of around 10 per cent of the German air travel market.

With oneworld the first of the global alliances to introduce interline e-ticketing between all its partners, customers can travel throughout this network with just one electronic ticket.

The on-line booking engine will enable businessflyer customers to book not just the special businessflyer tickets but also any publicly quoted fare offered by any oneworld carrier - American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, LAN, Finnair and Aer Lingus, along with their dozen affiliate carriers.

Almost 1.200 companies have signed up for the businessflyer scheme since it was launched two years ago, working with around 600 travel agencies, with revenues doubling year-on-year so far in 2005.

oneworld Vice-President Commerical Nicolas Ferri, in Frankfurt today to switch on the new businessflyer booking engine, said: "Germany is one of oneworld's most important markets worldwide, which is why our corporate customers in the country are the first to benefit from our new ability to take flight bookings on our website.

"Together, our airlines provide air travellers throughout Germany with a real alternative to the dominant home carrier. Now our corporate customers across the country will find it easier than ever to organize their worldwide travel with the world's leading quality grouping of airlines - while making substantial savings at the same time. It's another example of oneworld's commitment to provide excellent alliance service to customers worldwide."

The new businessflyer booking engine is the second website development rolled out this year specifically for its German customers. Three months ago it launched a dedicate website for travel agents in the country. www.oneworld.com/agents-germany features a range of on-line and downloadable tools to make it easier for them to sell its fares and products.

For further details of oneworld's services in Germany – including the new businessflyer booking facility – see www.oneworld.com/germany

About oneworld: oneworld brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business - American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas, Iberia, Cathay Pacific, LAN, Finnair and Aer Lingus - enabling them 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. Together, its members serve 600 destinations in 135 countries. It is the first global alliance with the customer convenience of interline e-ticketing between all its member airlines. oneworld was voted the world's best airline alliance by readers of Business Traveller magazine in its 2004 poll and named the World's Leading Airline Alliance for the second year running in the latest World Travel Awards, based on votes cast by travel professionals from 80.000 agencies in more than 200 countries. Note: LAN affiliate LAN ECUADOR is not a member of oneworld.