Kingfisher becomes oneworld member-elect

Kingfisher Airlines became a member-elect of oneworld after gaining approval from India's Ministry of Civil Aviation and completing a formal membership agreement, the alliance announced yesterday ahead of the IATA AGM in Berlin.

The carrier already had passed oneworld's safety audit, the group's first joining requirement, and started developing bilateral cooperation with several member airlines including a codeshare agreement with British Airways. Kingfisher and oneworld reached an MOU in February (ATWOnline, Feb. 24).

"I believe that Kingfisher and oneworld are natural partners," BA CEO Willie Walsh said. "In just five years, Kingfisher Airlines has established itself as one of India's leading airlines. It today carries more domestic passengers than any other single Indian airline [and] offers more daily departures than any of its competitors across the widest network within the subcontinent." He noted that it is "the only airline from the region to be judged five-star by Skytrax." BA is serving as Kingfisher's oneworld sponsor.

The alliance also confirmed that S7 Airlines is on track to join formally later this year, but it denied it is engaged in negotiations with Hainan Airlines. To expand its footprint in China further it had set its eyes on China Eastern Airlines, but that carrier opted for SkyTeam (ATWOnline, May 24). "Of course we are looking for opportunities,"American Airlines Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey, oneworld's governing board chairman, said. He added, "With Cathay Pacific [Airways] and its Dragonair affiliate and [Japan Airlines'] extensive network into China, we are very well if not the best positioned of all three alliances."

He reiterated the group's well-known stance that its focus will continue to be "on the quality rather than the quantity of its members."