aword from oneworld: May 2005

27 May 2005

New on-line oneworld image library launched: A new library of oneworldTM  images has been added to the alliance's on-line pressroom. It replaces the previous separate photo and logo libraries with a wider range of images for use by the media and others. Included for the first time is a small selection of pictures of the alliance's member airlines - depicting their aircraft, people and services.  This provides a "one-stop corner shop" for images for the alliance and all its members.   See oneworld.com/gallery

oneworld carriers lead the honours at Airline of the Year awards..: Members of oneworld took more prizes and nominations in the OAG's 2005 Airline of the Year Awards than airlines in any other alliance, with a total of five of the top trophies and 22 nominations. British Airways took two awards - as best in Western Europe and best transatlantic. American Airlines was judged as offering the best economy/coach class, Qantas best in Australasia/Pacific and LAN top in Central/South America and Caribbean.

..as its lounges are named the best yet again..: Cathay Pacific's lounges have been voted the world's best yet again. It topped the poll as having the best lounges overall, with its First and Business Class facilities also taking the top awards in their respective categories. Overall, oneworld member airlines maintained their trend in the various industry award schemes by picking up more honours in the survey than their counterparts in other airlines, with Qantas and British Airways also listed among the best. Almost 1.5 million nominations were received in the survey, conducted by SkyTrax, with judging based on seating capacity, lounge decor and ambience, business facilities, washrooms, showers and leisure amenities, newspapers and magazines, food and beverage selection and the attitude and efficiency of staff.

 

..and its Asian hub voted world's best airport for the fifth year running: oneworld hub Hong Kong, home base of Cathay Pacific, has been voted the world's best airport for the fifth year running in the largest international customer survey of airport standards, conducted by the Skytrax Airline Quality organisation, with travellers liking particularly its space, light, airy feel, cleanliness, efficiency and ground transport links.

Aer Lingus to launch flights to Almeria and Krakow: Aer Lingus is adding another two destinations to its network from late October. It will serve Spain's Almeria twice weekly and Poland's Krakow three times a week, both from its Dublin hub. They will be the ninth and tenth new routes opened by the Irish oneworld carrier in 2005, which has doubled its network in less than three years. Both destinations are already on the oneworld map. Almeria is served by British Airways and Iberia, with the UK partner also serving Krakow.

AA adds seasonal links to Vancouver, Anchorage and Jackson Hole: American Airlines is to resume is summer seasonal flights between its Chicago O'Hare hub and Vancouver from 9 June with two services a day, in addition to its services to the Canadian city from its Dallas/Fort Worth home. Also in early June, it is restarting its seasonal routes between both hubs and Anchorage and Jackson Hole and between DFW and Eagle/Vail.

  • American Airlines and its regional and oneworld affiliate American Eagle are launching services between New York LaGuardia and Atlanta, with five non-stops a day between them from 9 June - three by American MD80s and two by Eagle ERJ135s.

American Eagle to link DFW with Rochester and Syracuse: oneworld affiliate American Eagle, the regional wing of American Airlines, is to add daily non-stops links between its Dallas/Fort Worth base and both Rochester and Syracuse (New York) from 1 August, using CRJ700 regional jets. It already connects both New York state airports with its Chicago O'Hare hub five times a day.

Iberia is world's first to offer e-tickets on walk-up shuttle flights: Iberia is now accepting electronic tickets on its Madrid-Barcelona air bridge shuttle. It claims to be the first airline in the world to accept e-tickets on turn-up-and-take-off flights that require no bookings. The airline expects the move will serve as a major boost to its overall e-ticket programme, with two thirds of the passengers on the route expected to use electronic tickets in preference to the traditional paper versions. More than 64 per cent of all passengers on its domestic network already use e-tickets, and 41 per cent on its international services. Iberia, like all oneworld carriers, offers interline e-ticketing with all members of the alliance.

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, 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 some 600 destinations and 135 countries. oneworld is the only alliance to enable passengers to fly throughout its network, on any combination of carriers, using just electronic tickets. oneworld was voted the world's best airline alliance by readers of Business Traveller magazine in its 2004 poll and the World's Leading Airline Alliance for the second year running in the latest World Travel Awards, based on votes cast by80,000 travel agency professionalsfrom more than 200 countries. It is also the only alliance whose members reported collective profits last year. Note: LAN affiliate LAN ECUADOR is not a member of oneworld.

 

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